In Another's Shoes
by Nubial Sheep
Summary: A short trip outside has unforeseen consequences for Light, L, and Misa. The three are forced to, quite literally, spend time in one anothers' shoes. Each must adjust to living as each other, and nothing is completely as it appears.
1. Chapter 1

**In Another's Shoes **

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me. If I owned Death Note I would be the happiest person on this beautiful little planet. But I'm not, and therefore it is not mine.

I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! I've had the idea for it floating around in my mind-soup for a while, but I haven't been able to muster the courage to actually post it as a story until now. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I have the habit of triple-editing my work sometimes to get things absolutely right.

Also, I would like to point out to first-time readers that this story is going to be a bit weird at times, but I am doing my best to approach the situation as realistically and in-character that I can. If you see any flaws, mistakes or if you have any constructive criticism for me, feel free to speak your mind (within reason, please; flaming doesn't help anyone).

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**Chapter One: The Stage is Set**

It had been four months, twenty-one days and approximately seventeen hours since Light had set foot outside the investigation headquarters; four, almost five torturously long months since he had felt a breeze on his face, or breathed fresh air, or really gotten to stretch his legs.

The Kira Case had become especially intense during the past four months, since Kira had been especially active. The average amount of criminals killed daily had been higher than ever before, and had thusly increased the workload imposed on the small task force. If any of the members complained about the situation, howeverm they would received a lecture from L on how even one criminal's circumstances, even one new death could provide a crucial piece of information towards the discovery of Kira's identity. After a while, nobody bothered to complain. The older task force members stayed long hours working at the investigation headquarters, resulting in less time to spend with their families. Nerves began to strain, with tempers stretching precariously thin for even the most good-natured of the investigators. they needed a break, or they were going to snap.

Light, however, had been the person most effected by the prolonged intensity of work, having been chained to L for the entire time. The detective had the habit of working, without cessation, through both the night and the day. L was also steadfastly stubborn, refusing many a time to move his laptop to the bedroom so that the younger man could get proper rest. Light's sleeping habits deteriorated drastically, and as they did bags formed under his eyes and he slowly grew less socially inclined. He barely spoke at all , and when he did, his speech was short and biting. Not only was he constantly deprived of sleep, but Light had been unable to leave the investigation building at all, not even to see his family. He was, by now, significantly paler than normal from having stayed indoors for so long, making his already piercing amber eyes standing out vividly against the new pallor of his skin.

Another effect of constant confinement was that Light had become exponentially more irritable, having already had a thin temper before. Fights between he and L, involving both verbal and physical attacks, had become almost a daily occurence. The rest of the investigation team tread very softly around the two, lest they lash out at anyone besides each other.

Light was restless from his inaction. His muscles ached to move, but the handcuff's chain restricted him to moving within a certain radius of his sleepless roommate. Light had taken to pacing back and forth for long periods of time, scowling at anyone and everyone in the room all the while, but especially at L.

The older man had slowly been digging his way under Light's skin, every one of his strange, infuriating quirks becoming more painfully aggravating to the brunette with each passing day. The sound of yet another sugar cube dropping into a cup of already supersaturated liquid would cause Light to visibly twitch. Light was having more trouble repressing his impatience at the slow, shuffling movements of L's lanky body or his annyoance with L's fluctuating percentages and captious analysis of Light's actions for traces of "Kira-like behavior" made the younger boy positively quiver with rage.

The worst part, though, was the constant background noise of L ceaselessly working his computer with thise long, tapering fingers. The sound of typing never ceased, not even when Light was attempting, in vain, to sleep. The noise was driving him insane; it invaded his dreams, filling them with white fleshy spiders with empty black eyes, dancing garishly across an endless field of keys.

The pressure between the two had been building for a long time, and Light had finally had enough. He needed OUT.

It was afternoon, and the rest of the investigation team had departed, seizing a rare opportunity to visit their families while the Kira-related deaths had come to a halt. They left Light and L sitting alone under the pale illumination of the computer monitors. L was working as diligently as ever, hunched precariously over a piece of strawberry cheesecake and a cup of tea so heavily sugared it could almost be classified as a solid. Light closed the last document of case-related information that he had finished reading, sighing in relief and stretching his limbs out from the position they had been holding for the majority of the afternoon. Once he was done working the kinks from his back and assorted joints, he glanced over at the detective, a scowl contorting his comely features.

"Ryuuzaki, can we take a break for dinner now? It will hamper our performance if we aren't well fed." He said in an even, casual, dangerous tone.

"Ah, but I am not hungry, Raito-kun. I have made it a habit to snack constantly all day so as to have a constant supply of energy. It is the best way to stay fortified while still working, since the upkeep of the investigation is of the utmost importance. Any moment we waste is one in which we may have found a clue as to the whereabouts of Kira."

"Well, I'm sure even Kira needs to eat, Ryuuzaki, and I'm afraid that I do not share your habits when it comes to food. Come on, let's just go outside and get dinner; we have enough time that we can eat and return before the others. I know we could both use the exercise."

"No, Raito-kun, we must stay here and continue the case. It is hindering enough to progress that everyone else has left. We can always have Watari order us some food from one of the local restaurants."

"Ryuuzaki, when was the last time you were outside? Why not take a break and _walk_ to one of those restaurants instead of just having their food brought here? It doesn't need to take long—"

"-RAAAAIIITOOOO!" Light's sentence was cut off abruptly as a small bundle of blond hair, gothic crosses and frilly black lace imbedded itself into his ribcage, effectively knocking all the air out of his lungs as she enveloped him in a smothering embrace.

"I haven't seen you in _so long_! Misa has been so lonely without her Raito," she cried mournfully, pinching her well-glossed lips into a sad pout and burying her head even further into the boy's chest. Light, meanwhile, was trying to pull air into his bruised and battered lungs, with only minimal success.

"We haven't gone on a date in such a long time! I've been so busy and I just couldn't get away from my work. But now I can! Isn't that great? Misa is so happy she could cry…"

After rambling on for several minutes about her undying love for Light and the happiness she felt upon seeing him again, L politely interrupted her to bring to her attention the fact that, if Misa did not let go of Light soon, her one true and undying love was going to asphyxiate. She blushed in embarrassment, letting out a small "oops" and finally let Raito recover from the intensity of her embrace; she clung, instead, to his arm, snuggling it and giggling happily. When Light had gathered enough oxygen into his lungs, he smiled down at her.

"Well, how about we go on a date right now, Misa? I was just thinking that it would be nice to get outside and go to a restaurant to eat for once."

Misa's eyes lit up, and her mouth turned up into an ecstatic grin.

"Oh, Misa is so happy! My Raito has invited me on a date! He's so romantic and thoughtful to do that for Misa!" Her head snapped around to L, and her gaze narrowed, "it would be even more romantic if that _voyeur_ didn't have to come along."

"Misa-san, Raito-kun is my main suspect for the Kira case, and must constantly be under my supervision in case he does anything suspicious. I cannot let him go out on his own. As for the date… I suppose that that we could go out, just this once."

Misa squealed happily, clinging even tighter to Light's arm. Light shot a withering glare in L's direction (he wanted to go out, but not like this, not with _her_), his anger only simmering hotter at L's poker face, which was most definitely concealing a smirk. Though Light wasn't too pleased about the circumstances, he couldn't help the little smile that crept into his eyes. He was finally going to get to step outside this horrible, mentally stifling building! His small inward grin continued even throug the time it took him to drag the reluctant detective out of his chair and into their shared room, then to convince him to unlock the cuffs long enough for Light to change. The outift he chose to wear had been lying at the back of his closet, ironed and folded neatly, for the last few months; untouched with the lack of an appropriate situation in which to wear them. Once he was dressed, he brushed and styled his hair to perfection. L made a few witty remarks pertaining to the extent of Light's vanity, but Light ignored them all.

Misa was, of course, absolutely delighted to see her boyfriend so well-groomed and dressed up, and seemed content to completely ignore L's presence as they made their way to the elevator, riding it downwards before exiting the building.

Light felt a surge of comfort rush into him as he walked out of the doors and took in a long, luxurious gulp of fresh air. It was late evening and the sun was already setting low on the horizon, but Light was glad to just be able to look _up_ at the sky, rather than gazing at it through a bulletproof window. In this state of pleasant relief, he was almost able to forget the hyperactive blond attached to one arm, and the cold steel shackle attached to the other.

For the most part, everyone in the little party of three was enjoying themselves, except for L, who was sulking a bit about having to wear shoes. He would have much preferred to wear sandals, which would at least have given his toes the freedom to wiggle about, but the weather was too cool for him to do so. However, he had a pocket full of lollipops and assorted hard candy to appease him, and by indulging in the sweets he soon adapted to his discomfort.

The three walked about in the city for about an hour before finding and agreeing on a small restaurant that all three of them agreed on. For Light and Misa, it had an excellent selection of food and a warm, comfortable atmosphere, and for L it had an enormous selection of desserts and pastries to choose from.

The trio all sat down in one of the small western-style cushioned booths set in a line along the side of the restaurant. L took up his usual crouch on one side of the booth, with Misa directly across from him, leaving to Light stuck between the two facing the aisle.

Not long after their arrival, a young, fairly pretty waitress dressed in a simple black-and-white uniform hurried up and began to hand out menus. As her eyes glanced about the table of three, her gaze met with Light's and a fierce blush bloomed across her face. The woman ducked her head to hide it, but Misa had noticed her reaction, and immediately moved to squash any hopes the other girl might have of stealing her boyfriend. Leaning casually over to Light, she turned ever so slightly to stretch her arms up around his neck and coyly plant a small kiss on his cheek. Light made no move to either encourage or dissuade her, so Misa took this as permission to further wrap her arms around him and snuggle her head into the crook of his neck. In a soft purr, just loud enough to be heard by the waitress, Misa whispere to Light.

"Oh Raito, I'm _so_ glad that you suggested this date. That's so thoughtful of you! It reminds me of the time we first met, the first time we kissed…" Misa left the end of the statement to hang in the air, smiling triumphantly into Light's hair. In the language of possessive females, that silence spoke volumes, though it was most easily summed up as: _This hottie is mine!_

The waitress, suddenly remembering her duties, asked the three if they would like to order beverages. Light and L each ordered a coffee, and Misa an iced tea. The waitress left, and with her departure a silent, slightly tense atmosphere fell over the small booth. None of the three made any move to make small talk, or even to make eye contact with one another. L sat on the edge of his seat, digging candies out of his pockets and methodically unwrapping them, devouring them, and piling up the wrappers in color-coded stacks. Misa still clung onto Light's arm, scowling heavily in the direction that the waitress had left, while Light, completely ignoring the model hanging koala-like off his arm, let his eyes wander and survey the room.

The restaurant was sparsely populated and fairly quiet, the only noises being quiet snippets of the conversations of other diners and staff and the obnoxious crinkling sounds made by L's candies as he unwrapped them one after the other. The almost-silence hung as fragile and expectant as a soap bubble air, waiting for even the slightest disturbance before it popped. This atmosphere lasted until L, having run out of candies to devour, reached over into the small plastic condiment container in the center of the table, grabbed a large handful of sugar packets, and began to empty them straight into his mouth, one after the other.

Light snapped.

"Ryuuzaki, how can you DO that?" L emptied another packet into his mouth.

"Do what, Raito-kun?" Light could hear L's teeth crunching the hard crystals in his teeth.

"Eat raw sugar. It's just disgusting!!"

"I have told you this before, I need it to work at my full mental capacity."

"It's just sickening to watch you just eat it like that."

"I did not ask Yagami-kun to watch me eat. If you like, you can always watch Misa instead. I'm quite sure she'd appreciate the attention."

Misa joined the conversation.

"That's right Raito, pay attention to Misa-Misa and ignore that weirdo. Misa is much more fun to talk to than that pervert, right? And this is Raito's special date-time with _Misa _anyways, not Ryuuzaki."

Light just barely concealed his scowl at this, though he did let loose a withering glare at the sweet-toothed detective. He could see the smirk concealed in the older man's black eyes, no matter how blank they appeared on the surface. Goddamnit, Ryuuzaki _knew_ how uncomfortable Light was with Misa's clinginess.

Thankfully, before the tense atmosphere could evolve into a fully-fledged arguement the waitress returned with their drinks, then asked them if they would like to place their orders. Light and Misa both ordered western-style entrees, while L ordered three slices of pie, two pieces of cake and a hot-fudge sundae. Light grimaced at the prospect of eating his dinner while surrounded by so many sweets.

The pretty waitress bobbed her head in acknowledgement, collected their menus up and left again, though not before giving Light one last lingering glance, her gaze full of longing. Then she was gone. As soon as the waitress could no longer be seen, Misa began to rant, fuming with rage.

"…Did you see how she looked at you, Raito? Really! Who does she think she is, looking at Misa's boyfriend like that?! The nerve! Why if I could only get my hands on her…." After this point, Light tuned Misa out and just sat there, wearing a face of polite empathy but internally bored and impatient. He was used to getting sidelong glances whenever he went out anywhere, and from members of both sexes (though the females were usually much more obvious about it). It wasn't anything new, and neither was Misa's violently posessive nature. He would have liked to reject her advances, but he knew a tragic and dejected Misa would be even more trouble than a bubbly, beatific one. Sometimes, he wondered why he had even agreed to their relationsjip in the first place.

Light was relieved when Misa finally ended her speech in order to excuse herself to use the restroom facilities. She kissed Light quickly on the cheek, then bounced down the hallway and out of sight. The table fell silent in her absence.

"Raito-kun did not seem to be paying attention to Misa while she was speaking. That's very rude, especially since she is your girlfriend."

Light glowered at Ryuuzaki, who took a cautious sip of the hot coffee that was now a sugary, syrupy sludge.

"You know that there's nothing worth paying attention _to_, Ryuuzaki. I only ever put up with her because I don't want to hurt her. I know she's infatuated with me, but I can't help it if I don't feel the same way."

"Is it better to deceive her into thinking that you return her affections?"

"It's not like I really want to be her boyfriend, she just asked me and I agreed. I don't know, something just… came over me. My memory is a little vague on the subject..." He trailed off, his eyes glazing over as he worked through the bits and pieces of the encounter that he remembered. Why was his memory of that period of time so fragmented? The more Light thought about it, the more his head began to hurt, so he stopped. L only watched him, head cocked a bit to the side.

"Has Raito-kun never been in love? I would think that, especially during the adolescent years, a young man like yourself would be prone to such feelings."

Light shook his head, "no. I've never felt that way about anyone. Women are generally too clingy and emotional for my taste. Not one of them can hold an intelligent conversation."

"Oh my, is Raito-kun being sexist?"

"It's not sexism, Ryuuzaki, it is just a general observation based on my experiences with women. If I find evidence that there is a woman out there who is smart, capable and rational, then I will acknowledge it. Otherwise, I just do not comprehend the female mind."

"My statement still stands."

"Goddamn you, Ryuuzaki!" Light whispered through clenched teeth, his hand clenching and unclenching around his coffee cup as if imiganing that he was squeezing the pale neck of the man sitting across from him instead.

Thankfully, at that moment the two men were interrupted in their conversation. The waitress, arms laden with trays of plates bearing food and a copious amount of pastries, had arrived. She set each dish down, eyes afixed on the table as if afraid to look up, before she turned abruptly and scurried away, furiously blushing if her redenned ears were anything to go by.

Misa arrived only a few moments after the waitress had ducked behind the corner, looking quite refreshed and re-energeized. It was evident that she had applied new coats of lip gloss and eye shadow in her absence, and her hair was freshly brushed and shining. She skipped merrily over to the table, squealing happily upon noticing that the food had arrived, taking a deep whiff of the delicious aroma. She promptly sat down next to Light, and after a round of thanks, they all tucked in. The food was delicious, cooked in a very western --perhaps European-- style, but was visually appealing in the way only the Japanese could accomplish. Despite its foreign origin, it was very well received on the tongue.

The food tasted especially delicious to Light, more than any of them, since this was the first meal that he had eaten in over four months that wasn't take-out or pizza. Not only that, but he actually had the time to eat it slowly and enjoy the flavors rolling across his tongue. During the peak of their investigation work, Light had been given very little time to spare for meals, to be left wolfing down cold toast, sandwiches or leftover pizza while sitting at the computers. His meals were eaten with such haste and inattention that he might as well have been eating ash. Now, Light took full advantage of this opportunity and ate nonchalantly, especially savoring the small green salad that came with his entrée. It had been so long since he had eaten fresh vegetables... Though the other two inhabitants of the table were consuming food that was only of slightly better quality compared to what they normally ate, they seemed to be enjoying the experience as well. The silence that hung over the small booth was now a comfortable one.

After they finished eating, the waitress came to leave the bill on the table, bowing once to them before retreating hastily. The three looked down at the bill, each wondering who was going to pay. L spoke up first.

"Raito-kun, isn't it tradition for a boyfriend to pick up the tab for a date? I believe you should pay."

"This is hardly a traditional date, Ryuuzaki." Light countered, eyes narrowing. "Most boyfriends don't also have to pay for the expensive cakes that are ordered by other men forcefully handcuffed to them. Besides, Ryuuzaki, I have very little money; _you're_ a millionaire. If you can afford to build an entire office-apartment complex for your own convenience, you can certainly pick up the tab for one meal."

"Raito-kun is wrong on one account." Light raised his eyebrow.

"How so?"

"I am not a millionaire."

"...What? Then how--"

"--I'm _a billionaire_."

Light twitched visibly. "All the more reason for it, then."

"Raito-kun is so mean to make others pay for his dates." L put on a sulky face, but reached into his pocket anyways, brought out a small, plain brown leather wallet and withdrew the necessary sum from a small wad of bills.

"If Misa knew Ryuuzaki was going to pay, Misa would have ordered some cake too," The model said wistfully.

After paying for their meals, the three left the restaurant and set out into the night, heading back. It was dark by now, the sky a deep velvety blue penetrated only by the light from windows and street lamps. The air was a bit chilly now, but not enough to really effect them, even L who was dressed rather lightly. The slight cold only gave Misa an excuse to cuddle even closer to Light. He let her snuggle in, but otherwise ignored her. They all walked on in a companionable silence as the dusk fell slowly about them.

Sudennly, something small glittered brightly against the dark pavement of the sidewalk.

"Wait a minute, Raito, I think I saw something." Misa broke away from Light for a moment to bend down and pick up the glittering object; or rather, objects. Three identical rings, gleaming bone-white in the darkness, were strung along a loop of twine. Engraved into the side of each was the kanji for 'friend'. Misa squealed excitedly as she examined them, then turned to dispaly them to the others.

"Look what Misa has found, Raito! Misa is so lucky! These are just the thing to commemorate such a perfect date!" she squealed. Light had to fight the urge to roll his eyes; If this evening could be called a date, then Misa must have incredibly low standards. L simply looked on, eyes as dark and vacant as ever.

Light wondered how Misa knew the word 'commemorate'.

Misa, completely absorbed in her new finds, continiued to prattle. "See, there are three rings: one for each of us, since we're all friends! ...Well, technically Raito is my boyfriend, but he's my friend too so it's alright!" Misa paused for amoment before speaking again, pursing her lipsticked lips in a small pout and wrinkling her nose up as if she had just smelled something nasty. "Even though I don't like Ryuuzaki very much," Misa shot a glare at the apathetic detective as if to say that dislike was the _least _of what she felt towards him, " I guess he did pay for the meal, and he's not really _so_ bad.... so he get's a ring too. " Having made her decision, Misa promptly untied the string and handed a ring each to Light and L, keeping the last for herself. Misa slipped hers on eagerly, with the two men grudgingly following suit.

What would it hurt, wearing a silly ring?

"Now these rings are proof that we really are friends for ever and ever! All three of us must wear them all the time, so that our friendship never fades." Satisfies with this, Misa fanned her fingers out to gaze admiringly at her ring. As she did so, she noticed something odd.

"Oh my gosh! Look, look, mine is changing color! And yours too... I wonder if they're like mood rings? This is really cool!" Misa was practically bouncing up and down in excitement, sending her multitude of glittery gothic necklaces bobbing every which-way around her shoulders.

Sure enough, each of the rings was slowly transitioning from their original white into a variety of colors. Misa's ring was now a striking magenta that shone scarlet when the light touched it, though the kanji for 'friend' had turned pitch black. In contrast, Light's band had begun to lose its color until it had become almost entirely translucent; its tiny symbol gleamed as if written in fresh blood. Finally, L's ring had brightened into a burnished metallic gold, where the inscribed character shone like an inset sapphire of deep and bottomless blue.(1)

While Misa exclaimed loudly of her astonishment and pleasure at such a lucky find, L and Light examined the rings quizzically. However, aside from cocking an eyebrow at the phenomenon, they did not look into the matter any further.

"I suggest we make our way back to the headquarters now. It is getting late, and there is a seventy-eight percent chance that we will arrive back before the rest of the team if we walk quickly," reminded L.

"Ryuuzaki is right, we must get back." Light agreed, voice thick and weary. Spending an evening in the company of both Misa and L was quite tiring.

Then the trio made their way safely back to the investigation headquarters, completely ignorant of what the morning had in store. That night, every single one of them slept soundly.

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(1)The colors for the rings are inspired by Takeshi Obata's assigned character-colors for Death Note. Transulence for Light, pink for Misa and gold for L . I thought it'd be cool to stick to those color schemes as a bit of a tribute to the artist for DN. Otherwise, the secondary colors (for the kanji) are based on the the anime's character-colors, where Light and L are red and blue respectively, while Misa is pink (a weaker shade of red).

Phew! A good ten pages of story, and that's just the first chapter! I'm sorry if the dialogue is terrible; I admit that it isn't my forte.

I'm sorry if this beginning chapter is rather uneventful. The next few chapters will contain much more action/confusion.


	2. Chapter 2 Part 1

**In Another's Shoes**

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me. If I owned Death Note, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it.

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**Chapter 2 Part 1: Confusion**

Light awoke the next morning, feeling as if he was drifting up out of a thick, soupy fog. His entire body was tingling with the kind of pins-and-needles feeling one gets when a foot falls asleep. As his mind slowly shed the heavy, warm blanket of unconsciousness, the effect began to subside.

He did not open his eyes just yet, but lay still until the tingling effect completely left him. He had been up particularly late that evening working on the case with L, having had to make up for the time spent out on the 'date', and he was happy to take advantage of these last few moments of peaceful slumber. Soon L would doubtless force him to wake and prepare for another day of work, and Light's body needed every second of rest it could get these days.

Strangely though, he could not hear any signs of his eccentric roommate's presence; no typing, no shifting, not even the sound of breath. It was normal for the detective to wake Light early, deliberately and often in the most annoying and uncomfortable nature. His favorite method was to crouch directly over Light and stare unblinkingly into his eyes, like a great black-and-white owl. Even if L did not consciously work to wake him, he inevitably disturbed his slumber anyways (since the teen slept very lightly) with the tinkling of his spoon against china, the sound of the mattress creaking slightly or by jingling the chain that connected them by moving about.

Light decided to not question this morning's silence. He had not slept this well in a while, and wished to savor it.

When he finally felt up to it, and moved his arm to his head, the movement felt strangely detached; it was almost like he was moving someone else's limb instead of his own. What furthered this alien feeling was the now noticed absence of the shackle that bound him to Ryuuzaki. Ryuuzaki _never_ removed the handcuffs, not unless they were changing their clothes.

Light's mind began to flash warning bells. He sat up quickly, pushed the covers back and slowly forced his eyelids apart. Once his eyes were open, he worked at convincing them to focus on his surroundings, blurred with sleep as they were. Everything seemed hazy for a few moments. Once he had finished adjusting his sight, he blinked and gaped in earnest surprise.

Light was not lying on the bed on which he had fallen asleep in that precious night. He was not even in the same hotel-style room that he was used to inhabiting. He was lying, instead, in an enormous, horrendously fluffy bed. This piece of furniture was decorated with pink heart-shaped pillows and covers laced in intricate patterns in pink, red and black. There was a walk-in closet to his left, the closed door covered with a vast tableau of carefully arranged magazine clippings. You could barely see the door itself under the smiling faces of renowned celebrities and beautiful, curvaceous models. An expensive-looking vanity, complete with heart-shaped mirror and an absurd amount of cosmetics, lay to his right. Beyond that was an open portal to a lavish bathroom and a small archway leading out to a general living area, furnished with sofas and small tables and wallpaper with lilies.

The entire effect of the apartment-like set of rooms was rich and opulent and princess-like. Any teenage girl in existence would have drooled at the very sight of it, and would pay through the nose just to spend a single night in such a perfect suite. It made Light nauseous.

He shivered slightly, a foreboding chill traveling up his spine to fizzle in his skull. The entire room was suspicious; Light just didn't trust anything that was this… pink.

What was he doing here anyways?

Was this some sort of trick? Light thought the situation over with increasing befuddlement. Was L trying to do some elaborate test on his Kira theories by placing Light in a completely new environment while he slept? If so, L would be observing him with hidden cameras.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light called, and gasped at the sound of his own voice. It was high pitched and foreign. Had he developed laryngitis through the night? He might have caught it while he was outside, he surmised.

"Ryuuzaki, come on come out! What the hell is going on?" Light yelled, in ever-growing anxiety, whipping his head back and forth to survey he room for any sign of his raven-haired jailor.

He saw nothing, but the violent movement of his head brought to his attention the shifting of something heavy and smooth on his shoulders and against the back of his neck. As his head moved, the feeling followed. This could only be one thing...

Light reached up to feel at his head to affirm his new discovery. His hair was, against all conceivable odds, long. It was shoulder-length and smooth, and tugging hard on a hair provoked a corresponding pain on his scalp. It wasn't a wig. Either that, or it was a wig that had been super-glued or otherwise attached to his head. He wouldn't put it past L to go to such lengths. What kind of test _was_ this?

Having had enough, Light stood up from the bed and made his way angrily to the door. He was going to find L, and he was going to get some answers! As he made his way towards the door, he caught a mere flicker of bright color reflected in the mirror of the cosmetic-piled vanity. It distracted him from his growing frustration for a moment, just long enough to convince him to backpedal across the plush carpet to get a closer inspection of it. Upon catching sight of the same color again, Light ran the rest of the way up to the vanity and stared wide-eyed into the mirror. For what seemed like an eternity, he just stood there; silent, paralyzed, unable to move or even think. Ttime had frozen in place, breath was forgotten.

Light had never experienced true shock. He was, after all, a genius; he was able to calculate the many outcomes of any action, analyze them and predict even farther into the future with the mental effort it took others to remember how to tie their shoes. He was a strategic prodigy and held an amazing talent for foresight, so it was not very often that he was left completely, utterly flabbergasted. In fact, such an event had never in his life occurred.

..And now he was left gaping like a fish.

…This was just... _inconceivable_!

Interrupting the stupefied youth's moment of paralysis came a reverberating high-pitched scream, the sound saturated with the same confusion and disbelief as our young anti-hero was feeling at that very moment. The scream came from some several floors above, judging by its muffled quality.

Temporarily shoving his new, troubling revelation far, far out of his mind, Light bolted out of the room in the direction of the sound. He plowed past pillow-strewn couches and over fluffy carpets. He found the door that let him out of the whole suite, and opened it to find the all-too-familiar neutrally toned corridors of the investigation headquarters. He paused for but a moment to quirk an eyebrow at this discovery, scowling. Light granted that he had never been able to fully explore the building, there being many different floors all filled with rooms, and Light being chained to a workaholic who refused to budge from laptop; but still, this was ridiculous. More questions that needed answers...

His mind returning to the reason that he had been running in the first place, Light estimated his approximate location in the building from the arrangement of the hallways and ran in the direction of the central elevator. He found it with ease, dashing up to its metallic doors and forcefully pressing the 'up' button. Whatever was going on, Light was sure that he was not the only one suffering these strange consequences.

The elevator announced its arrival with a small 'ding', and Light clambered inside. he pressed the button for the floor which held the rooms that he and L usually ate and slept in. That area was the only one that was ever inhabited at all during this time of day, so it was the best bet that the scream would have originated there.

Light shivered in the elevator as it rose up, wishing that he had woken up in something slightly more substantial, glad that the elevator ride wouldn't take too long.

_To be Continued_

* * *

Authors Notes: This is the first part in what was originally going to be a whole chapter, but since I want to add to the suspense (and I'm having a little trouble with the second half of it) I decided to split it up.

A big thank you to my two first reviewers, Shadow-L-Chan and hidden warrior1! Your encouragement was very much appreciated!


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

**In Another's Shoes**

Summary: A short trip outside of the investigation headquarters has several unforeseen side effects for Light, L, and Misa. Each is forced to adapt to their new situations while working to catch Kira. What will come of it?

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me. If I owned Death Note I would be the happiest person on this beautiful little planet. But I'm not the happiest person on the planet, therefore it is not mine.

...The second part of the chapter, as promised!

* * *

**Chapter 2 Part 2: A Change in Perspective**

Light was not the only one who had awoken that morning in a state of confusion. The normally sleepless, ever-vigilant detective had also awoken to rather unexpected circumstances.

The first of which being that he had been asleep at all in the first place, and on a bed no less.

L never slept unless he consciously chose to, and when he did sleep it was in the exact same position as when he was awake (Matsuda had been correct in his observations after all). The only times he ever reclined in slumber were when he was horribly sick or so sleep-deprived that his body finally overrode his mind in its demands for rest and recuperation. He had not actually chosen to sleep on a bed since he was a small child.

So something was obviously wrong, because that evening L had, of his own volition, buried his head in a pillow, curled up on his side and had let the darkness take him.

But now, it was morning, and events were already unfolding for the two other inhabitants of the Kira Investigation Headquarters. L was soon to be dragged into the mess.

As in, he was literally dragged into it.

More specifically, he was dragged violently by his wrist off of the bed he had been so comfortably and uncharacteristically sleeping upon. The force that was pulling him was headed in the direction of the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom that he and Light had grown accustomed to sharing.

Despite this jarring disturbance, it took the world-renowned detective several seconds to shake off his grogginess in full, even while being dragged backwards over the carpet. He felt extremely tired, his limbs hanging like lead off his frame, despite having slept more during this night than he had in several weeks.

He wondered vaguely if this was what Light felt like waking up every morning, with his mind left in a haze and his limbs so heavy with sleep. If so, then he really should be more understanding of his adolescent roommate in the future, since the experience was downright horrible.

L wouldn't wish this mind-blurring stupor upon anyone, even a suspect of mass murder.

Focusing now on the events currently unfolding, L pulled himself up off of the ground, wincing at the fresh rug-burn that streaked his arms and back with red-hot pain. L had a very high threshold for pain, but such a large amount of chafing was hard to ignore. It was, however, the pain that helped the most to push L's mind up out of its haze, jump-starting his brain faster than even the best cup of coffee ever could. He was alert within seconds, and ready for anything. Once his mind had begun working in full, he'd noticed two abnormalities almost instantaneously.

First off, the handcuff that had been chained to his right wrist last night was now, however impossibly, attached to his left instead. He could tell without even looking at it really, because his left arm had chafed the worst from its rough journey across the carpet. The steel cuff had dug into the flesh of his wrist hard enough to leave a nasty bruise.

Secondly, he was not wearing his usual white shirt. He recognized the fabric on his arm as being that of the sweater Light had gone to bed in that night, having collapsed without even the energy left to change his clothes. However, he apparently had summoned enough energy to change L's clothes with his.

But he couldn't possibly have achieved all this; Light did not have the key necessary to unlock the handcuffs, and he could never have lowered himself enough to do something as disgusting as to wear the detective's grungy vestments. L just did not know what to make of it. His intuition, which he trusted most keenly, screamed that something about this whole situation was terribly amiss. Just at that same moment, L heard a much louder scream coming from the bathroom into which the handcuff's chain led, pulled taught across the distance like a tripwire.

L combed the area with his eyes, alert for any sort of threat or danger within the plain living quarters. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he relaxed himself slightly and allowed his curiosity to rear its head in his mind. What could possibly be going on? L walked over to the bathroom, rubbing his sore wrist now that the chain was slack, and peered inside.

He froze, his eyes wide. L Lawliet, an investigative genius who held the position of being the three greatest detectives in the world, was dumbstruck.

He stared into the bathroom, not moving a muscle, for a long moment. He looked down at his hands, his arms, and then back into the bathroom.

Suddenly remembering the whereabouts of one of his several hidden spare keys, L crouched down next to the wall three and a half feet from the bathroom door. He pulled out a small chink from the bottom wooden lining of the wall, the outline of the small piece barely visible, and removed the key from behind it. After slipping the small piece back into place, he deftly removed the cuff from his wrist, rubbing at the throbbing red welt underneath.

He stood then, and strode over to the wardrobe that lay across the room, his mind abuzz with questions and theories and solutions. He didn't know all of the situation, but he knew, from the resolute feeling in his gut, what he would see.

He faced the mirror. It was confirmed.

L was so momentarily distracted he barely noticed the sound of running footsteps approaching.

* * *

The elevator doors slid open, and Light bolted through them. He ran down the familiar hallway, knowing the layout enough to make his way without thought. Finally reaching the door to the bedroom, he flung it open wide, following the sounds of quieted screams. He could see, trailing out of the bathroom, one of the ends of the handcuff that was usually attached between him and the detective. Light finally arrived at the door, and peered inside. What the hell was going on now?

L stood inside, staring into the mirror in a look of horror and confusion and fear. His hair was a mess (more so that usual, anyways), his face tear-streaked and absolutely deformed with misery and fear. The detective, whom Light had never seen looking anything less than totally calm and devoid of emotion, seemed to be having a complete nervous breakdown. Light had never seen him the other man even remotely sorrowful, even after months of being chained to him; and here he was crying his eyes out and shrieking inconsolably at his own reflection.

Finally noticing Light's approach, L turned his miserable countenance to face Light, but before Light could even say anything to him L's jaw dropped, his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates before finally rolling up into his head. His face and body grew slack, and the detective practically swooned onto the cold tiled floor. He had fainted.

Hearing a noise behind him, Light turned around from this most unnatural spectacle. As clear blue eyes met with deep brown, Light felt tempted to follow the raven-haired detective's example and let the rushing blood in his ears swamp his senses. This was all just too much for one morning.

* * *

Misa Amane had awoken that morning from a clinging leaden slumber. A fog hung grey and humid in her head as her awareness slowly returned, beckoning for her to fall back into the deep emptiness of the dreamless sleep.

After a long, stretching moment suspended in indecision, the attractive and talented young model mustered up the strength to pull one eyelid up just a sliver. Through that small crack of a window, her gaze focused, her blurred vision clearing until she could completely make out the large form that lay within her vision. When she finally awoke enough to identify the shape, her eyes opened jarringly wide with shock.

For there, right beside her on the bed and deeply asleep, was an angel. Misa's angel, an angel with beautiful wispy brown hair and a face a god would envy. Misa blinked her eyes several times, positively sure that she must be dreaming, even going so far as to pinch herself to confirm the reality of the situation. Assured by the stinging pain shooting up her arm from a fresh small welt, she lay her head back down again upon the pillow, gazing contentedly at her boyfriend. He was so beautiful when he slept (though of course, he was just as breathtaking when awake), his normally meticulously controlled face completely slack in his rest.

The lashes sweeping his cheeks were long and luxurious, the cheeks and cheekbones themselves were finely sculpted. His lips were slightly open in breath, his supple hands curled in front of his face. Misa felt a hot blush rising to her cheeks, her blood pounding drum-like against her skull with her stomach fluttering and twisting like a flag in a storm.

This was the first time Misa had ever been able to see her Light asleep, and he looked just as sensual and elegant deep in slumber as he did when awake, though he looked significantly more peaceful unconscious. Misa laid quite still beside him for what felt like an eternity, matching his soft breaths with hers, memorizing his features, absorbing every detail of every single fiber of his being. If he were awake, Light would have told her to stop staring at him, but now she had the opportunity to drink her fill. She lived for Raito, and would just as happily die for this Adonis-like being.

Misa was now, however, awake through and through, all lingering vestiges of sleep shed from her body as it began to prepare for the day ahead. Her blood and bones positively vibrated with energy, and Misa could no longer keep herself still. She was hesitant about breaking this moment, this rare chance to simply be with the young man she so adored, but soon she could remain still no longer. She took one last long lingering gaze at Light's sleeping form, smiling softly under her blush, and upon impulse she moved. She leaned forward towards Light's peaceful face, kissing his parted lips as gently as the brushing of a feather, careful not to linger or wake him. Her blush deepened.

Finally, she sat up, a jubilant grin lighting up her features. She did not know exactly how she had gotten into a bed with Light, but she would not, for all the world, make even one complaint about the circumstances. Her happiness was as large and bright as the sun, fueled by her love.

She surveyed the room, confirming that she was, indeed not in her own bedroom, which was on a lower floor of the building, but was instead in the chamber normally shared by Light and Ryuuzaki, her sense confirming that the older detective was nowhere to be found. Misa stuck out her tongue at the thought of the black-haired pervert, good riddance to him. He was always with Light, accompanying him all around the investigation building, outside, and the annoying older man even had the gall to join Light on his dates with Misa. Misa puffed her cheeks out with anger at the thought, but her heart was bursting with triumph at the fact that she was finally alone in a room with Light, which was a great victory indeed!

Coming up out of her thoughts, Misa became, at last, aware of a thin chilling ring of cold that was wrapped about her left wrist. She leaned over to examine it, finding that the source of the cold was a silver shackle, connected to a long steely chain that wound its way across the bed until finally connecting to a matching cuff on Light's arm. The chain clinked faintly with the movement of her arm. Misa pondered the situation for a moment, greatly confused as to what Ryuuzaki had intended with the action of chaining Light to her instead of himself.

After a moment of thought, Misa exclaimed, though only really talking to herself, in conclusion,

"Misa knows! Ryuuzaki-san must have had so much fun on the date last night that he decided to reward Misa by letting her sleep with Raito! He never even sleeps anyways... But what's wrong with my voice? Oh no, did I catch a cold last night? I know it was a_ little_ cool but maybe it was just enough for Misa to get sick..."

Misa's voice was indeed very changed, hanging heavy and low in her throat despite her energetic tone. The edges of her words had a rough feel, nothing like her usual exuberant soprano at all. The voice that her ears had heard had seemed strange and unnatural, and yet familiar at the same time.

She ran her thumb along her throat absent-mindedly, and pulled her hand back with a start. Her neck felt different, thick and muscular rather than slim and delicate, and to her horror she had felt a strange bump coming out from the front of her larynx. What was that bump? Her stomach began to lurch, leaden and knotted in her growing horror.

Upon pulling her hand back, she had a good view of that appendage as well. Her hand was huge! It looked larger and strong, with long and spindly, capable fingers. Clinging upon the bones and muscles was abnormally pale skin that stretched, to the girl's horror, all the way up her arm to the sleeve of what was, without a shadow of a doubt, a loose white ill-fitting shirt. Misa knew what she had worn to bed, and what she was wearing now was very different to the garments (if they could be called even that) that she had fallen asleep in. Something was wrong, horribly wrong. The dream had become a nightmare!

Misa was panting, panicky now, feeling along her entire body frantically: her legs (now long and clad in worn blue denim), her head (her hair was now shirt and untidy, strands running rampant across her skull in full bed-headed glory), her face (which had lost some of its softness and curve in favor of length and blunted angles), and the most damning fact; her chest…. Flat as a board, broader and wider than she had ever felt it to be.

Thoughts ran wild in the model's head, fear and shock and terror turgid within her, the emotions washing up from the gaping wellspring in her stomach. Her new feet, attached to new legs, carried her at top-speed to the bathroom.

The turmoil of her emotions was so strong as to leave her oblivious to the tug of the chain as it stretched taught between her wrist and that of the other figure on the bed.

She was deaf even to the thudding sound, followed by a low groan, as Light's body was first pulled violently off of the bed and then dragged mercilessly across the carpet.

Misa's pale hands grasped the doorknob tightly and flung the portal open, stepping finally into the small chamber. Her eyes passed unseeingly across the room's sturdy medicine cabinet, cheerful wallpaper and quaint white toilet, to finally rest upon the unapologetic answer that lay inside the mirror. Her eyes met their reflections, as pitch-black as the sightless coal eyes of a snowman, and Misa reacted in the only way she could.

She screamed.

She screamed and screamed, clenching her eyes shut and opening them just enough to make her let loose another, a higher and louder, scream.

The frightened, deeply affected girl began to babble. Misa was not even aware ofthe words she was saying, too deeply buried in shock and disbelief to see properly, much less hear.

Misa was in such despair and such confusion that she lost track of time, oblivious to all of the events unfolding around her. She finally took notice of the situation when she heard footsteps at the door.

She paused in her bewildered stupor to turn and look at the newcomer. She felt her jaw dropping in shock at what she saw, or rather, WHO she saw.

She saw, as if looking inside some strange and unfathomable mirror, her own image. Her own blue eyes, shining waterfall of blond hair, her own slim and graceful figure clad in sleepwear that was skimpy but not too revealing, alluring without being obvious about it.

The sparkling blue eyes that she had only ever seen in reflection stared at her in surprise, but barely had time to blink before Misa felt the ground give way as the world collapsed into darkness.

* * *

To be Continued

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry I took so long in posting this new chapter, but the writing has been difficult to organize. It was hard to decide whose point of view should come when. At one point I even decided to change one part of the scene, and therefore had to go back and change all three perspectives of the scene. Blarg! I seem to have the tendency to make things hard for myself. As they say, you are your own worst critic.

So yes, this is a body-swapping story (you probably already knew that, as I said I'm not at all subtle). The idea had been stewing in my head for a while. I really, really liked the concept of something a little outside of the usual two-characters-swap-bodies story. A three-person rotation seemed much more fitting for our three main Death Note characters. You'll see why I swapped them as I did as the plot progresses.

I realize that all of the perspective jumping might have made the actual order of events rather confusing, so just to make everything clear, I've laid it all out. The timeline goes thusly:

_1. Misa wakes up/Light wakes up_

_2. Misa pokes around/Light scopes out his surroundings_

_3. Misa discovers changes & rushes to bathroom/ L begins to wake_

_4. Light discovers changes - Misa screams loudly/ L is awake and discovers changes_

_5. Light heads up to investigate/L sees Misa, unlocks cuffs and goes to mirror_

_6. Light arrives/Misa sees Light and faints_

_7. Light & L see each other_

_Chapter End._

Writing Misa was surprisingly easy for me. I don't know quite why, but she just flows out of me with ease. Maybe it's because she's the most normal of the three; I don't have to try and make her sound like a genius, she's just an emotional, love-struck teenaged supermodel.

Any reviews, constructive criticism, speculations or suggestions are greatly appreciated! As you all already know, more reviews mean a more motivated author. Story alerts are also an adequate form of encouragement. Even if you don't do anything, thank you for reading thus far.

Hope you liked it,

**-Nubial Sheep**


	4. Chapter 3

**In Another's Shoes:**

Summary: A short trip outside of the investigation headquarters has several unforeseen side effects for Light, L, and Misa. Each is forced to learn and adapt to their new situations, whether they like it or not.

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me. If I owned Death Note I would be the happiest person on this beautiful little planet. But I'm not the happiest person on the planet, and therefore it is not mine.

Chapter Five:

* * *

As L stared into the familiar blue eyes of the petite blond model standing before him, he pondered the situation. Misa stood before him, but something was off. The girl had an uncharacteristically serious expression twisting the pretty features her face, suspicion practically oozing from her flawless skin in viscous waves. Her eyes were narrowed, brows furrowed with eminent distrust. Gone were all the bubbles and blushes and giggles that L had grown accustomed to enduring from day to day. Even her body language was different, much more defensive and assertive. She looked like a lioness, ready to spring for his throat at the twitch of a hair. Neither of the two blinked, neither displayed weakness.

"Who are you?!" She whispered; even her voice was changed. It held none of its normal feminine drama, no shocked disbelief. This new Misa spoke low in her throat, in a whisper that rang with more power than any shout. The very softness of her tone demanded an answer.

L just stared, his face impassive, though anyone who knew him well enough would recognize that his silence was a thoughtful one. His hands, shoved deep in his pockets, tapped his sides in an unconscious habit. He was used to moving them while he thought; they were always busy stirring a cup of coffee, stacking candies, typing, or delicately lifting documents up to his face.

"I said, who are you?! What are you?! Answer me!" Oh my, the detective recognized that tone, that stance. Now this was interesting, very interesting. In seconds, L's mind had already considered and rejected a number of theories, though he already had a rather strong hunch as to which was correct. If he was now, in all appearances, Light Yagami; then Light must be… Oh this was interesting indeed. L's thumb snaked up out of his pocket towards his lips as he finally responded to the enraged blond in front of him.

"I would have thought Raito-kun would have already comprehended the situation by now."

The girl's face once again lost all color, but through the shock, her eyes glimmered with recognition, no small amount of surprise, and _comprehension_.

"Ryuuzaki?" She said it slowly, cautiously, the mind behind her blank face working a mile a minute, just as L's had not a moment ago. L only nodded in reply.

"Then that must mean that…" She trailed off, glancing back at the unconscious form passed out in the bathroom.

"It appears Misa-san has not taken the situation rather well. I think we should wake her up before discussing this matter any further."

Light agreed, eyes still distant, and the two moved to pick up the unconscious man's body, hauling the limp form toward the bed. It was clear Light was having a harder time with the heavy lifting. As they were doing so, L glanced over at Light, and paused. Light lifted his head, eyes asking quizzically why they were stopping.

"Raito-kun, aren't you a little bit drafty in that?"

Light looked down, as if first really comprehending the clothing (or lack of it) that he was wearing. His face flushed a dark crimson, his eyes flashing in fury before he again regained control over his nastier emotions, burying them with a practiced ease. Light knew that if he hadn't been busy carrying Misa's new body at that moment, he would have definitely punched L, which would have started a fight; a fight he probably would not have won. His usual stamina, strength, speed, reflexes and height were now completely lost to him. He frowned, looking down in disgust at Misa's small delicate hands and soft, feminine curves. It was very humiliating, being in a _girl's_ body, a weak body. Light _hated _feeling weak.

Light lifted the jean-clad legs in his grip higher, taking up more of the burden in a fit of stubborn determination. Light Yagami _wasn't_ weak.

….A moment later, light's knees buckled a bit under the additional weight, forcing him to give up a portion of his load. Even if Light Yagami wasn't weak, Amane Misa definitely was.

After the two had successfully transferred Misa to the bed, Light strode calmly and evenly (no matter how fast he wanted to dash, he still had his dignity) over to the large wardrobe to put on some decent clothing. He made sure not to look in the mirror on the door as he opened it. It was just too disconcerting, seeing Misa there.

Light silently dreaded the time when he would first have to test his new 'plumbing'. Hopefully, not for a few hours at least…

At that, his bowels twinged forebodingly.

Oh god...

* * *

Misa awoke, for the second time that morning, in an unfamiliar bed. Her head ached from where it had hit the cold bathroom tiles. Her head was still fuzzy, her memories foggy and vague. What had she been doing? How had she gotten here? She groaned slightly and buried her face back in the warm and all-too-inviting pillow. She heard, from a few meters away, voices held in quiet discussion. At the sound of her moan of pain and confusion, the conversation stopped. When the voices spoke again, it was in whispers, which she was only just able to discern.

"… I think I should wake her, Raito-kun. If she sees you immediately after rising, she may fall back into hysterics."

Misa buried her head farther into the soft fabric of the pillow, trying without luck to ignore the voices. She wanted so badly to fall back into that beautiful, warm, dreamless slumber. A hand gently fell on her shoulder and shook it slightly, interrupting her sluggish train of thought. However, when her love's angelic voice spoke above her, Misa's mind sprang immediately into gear.

"Amane-san, please wake up. There is much to be done, and you've been unconscious for a while." Light's voice was as smooth, perfect and calming as ever. Misa felt a rush of love and affection fill her heart while hormones pumped into her blood. The combination woke her better than even the finest, most expensive coffee.

Light was here! He was so kind and compassionate to care for Misa enough to come wake her up. Misa's let loose a brilliant smile as she propelled her body from out of the covers and into a high-velocity hug, squealing her joy. She threw her arms up over Light's head, snuggling up to his firm chest while clasping her hands high enough to feel the silky hairs that reached down his perfect neck. After a good affectionate squeeze, Misa gazed up into her love's gorgeous eyes, looking up through her lashes as seductively as she could.

Her boyfriend's face was as emotionless as ever, though he looked just a bit… disturbed. Anyone with less emotional control would have read as being completely creeped out.

Misa just smiled and giggled and declared her undying love for her wonderful boyfriend. After a few minutes of this, she looked down at him, frowning.

"Raito, why are you wearing Ryuuzaki-san's clothes? They're disgusting."

Still expressing that same non-emotion, he replied in complete monotone;

"That's because I am Ryuuzaki, Misa-san."

She stared at him, brows cinched together. "Raito, that's crazy! Has Ryuuzaki given you drugs? Has he?! I knew that pervert was going too far!" She surveyed the room, looking for the scruffy detective who was surely the cause of the matter. Nobody drugged her Raito and got away with it! Her eyes rested, however, on someone who was completely unexpected.

This someone was a girl who looked identical to Misa, from her slim, yet curvy figure to the silky blond hair that cascaded down her back. She was, however, dressed in a tomboyish fashion, wearing loose, plain jeans that showed none of her curves as well as a boy's collared shirt. The girl's hair was tied back in a neat, loose ponytail.

For a moment, Misa just stared, wide-eyed and puzzled at her carbon copy, before her mind reached what seemed like the only logical explanation.

She gasped softly "Does Misa have a twin sister? Misa never knew!" She ran over to the girl, looking her over from all angles in wonderment and awe.

"What's your name? Wow, we really do look alike! It's so amazing! Where did you grow up? How many centimeters tall are you? I bet we even share the same cup size…" The questions and comments flew out of her mouth at such a speed that it was astonishing that she could still be understood. The Other-Misa did not answer anything, and showed no reaction at all to the inspection. Finally, Light turned and interrupted Misa's inquisitive babble.

"I am sorry, Misa-san, but you do not have a twin sister."

Misa's eyes became even rounder at that.

"Eeeeh? But she looks just like me! Is she my twin cousin? A clone?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Misa noticed the chain that ran between the girl and Light, linking them together.

"Raito, why is she chained to you? I thought you were always chained to Ryuuzaki… And where is he, anyways? I bet he's spying on us!"

The Misa-Twin-Or-Possible-Clone finally turned and looked at Misa, her expression revealing nothing.

"But I am chained to Ryuuzaki, Misa."

Misa just blinked her confusion. She looked back and forth between them, from Light to the Misa-Clone and back. She clearly was missing something here. Light spoke to the Misa-Clone;

"I believe the easiest way to get this over with, Raito-kun, would be to show her. We do not have all day to explain this situation. The investigation team will be arriving."

"But we also do not have all day for her hysterics, Ryuuzaki. We can't have her fainting again." This was said by the Misa-Clone.

"Then we shall have to break it to her gently, then. Will Raito-kun do the honors? After all, Misa-chan is his girlfriend…" The last remark was almost mocking.

"Shut it, Ryuuzaki." Was the scathing reply.

Misa puzzled as the other two spoke. The longer the conversation went on, the more confused she got. Why was Raito referring to himself in the third person now? Why was the Misa-twin calling Raito 'Ryuuzaki'? Why was she talking in such a masculine way_(a)_? Why was he calling the Misa-clone 'Raito'? What was going on? Misa sat, her brows furrowed in thought, trying to figure out what was going on. Nothing seemed to make sense. Perhaps Ryuuzaki _had_ drugged her Light. Maybe Ryuuzaki had drugged Misa too... That's right, Misa was probably hallucinating right now. This was all to strange to be real.

Misa was snapped out of her thoughts when the Misa-clone-girl approached her, one hand held behind her back. The other was pointing to herself.

"Misa, I am Raito, and that," Indicating the auburn-haired boy beside her, "Is Ryuuzaki. We have all, for some inexplicable reason, switched bodies."

Misa just stared.

"You see, you are no longer yourself either." The girl held up the mirror to rest in front of Misa's face.

Black eyes, rimmed with flesh scarred from years of sleeplessness, stared back at her, widened in surprise. Black, sleep-mussed hair fell over a familiar, pallid white face.

After a long moment, Misa blinked.

The eyes blinked.

Misa reached a hand up to her face.

A pale, long-fingered hand appeared in the mirror, exactly copying her movement.

As the mirror-Ryuuzaki poked his cheek, Misa felt the impact.

No.

For the second time that morning, Misa screamed.

* * *

Thankfully, Misa's hysterics quieted considerably after the small mirror, and with it the harsh reality of her new features, was removed from her sight. Over the course of a half-hour, Light and L not only managed to sooth the shaken model, but also to get her to accept the situation with only a minimum of panicky disbelief. She was still shocked, confused and horrified, but she was intelligent enough not to deny it.

The trio had then made their way to one of the small living-room style rooms that were interspersed throughout the headquarters.

L had then chained Light to the sofa, and had excused himself. Light entertained himself by stretching languidly across the cushions, acting for all the world like it had been his decision to stay on the couch, and could leave at any time if he wished to. Still unused to thinking of her apparent clone as Light yet, Misa went immediately for a special cabinet filled with popular magazines that were kept there specifically for her. Watari always kept it stocked with the newest editions. For a while, Misa forgot her new freakish transformation, happily immersing herself in gossip and scandal.

L arrived a long while later, accompanied by Watari. The old man was pushing a cart bedecked with plates of steaming, freshly prepared eggs, bacon and toast, and (of course) a selection of cakes and sweets. L sat down in his usual crouched position, which looked all the more unnatural since it was Light executing it, while Watari began to set out the plates. Light quirked an eyebrow when Watari happened to serve each person the appropriate fare (a hearty breakfast for him, reduced portions of food to Misa, cake to the inhuman gargoyle and coffee for all). L must have convinced Watari of his identity and the situation, which would explain his extended absence. They were all ravenous (even Misa, who had for the last week been keeping a steady diet) and dug into the food in silence. Only when their plates were empty and cleared away by Watari did the three begin to talk. L began.

"Well, this is certainly an odd circumstance, and I am not quite sure what to make of it. This is supposed to be impossible, but then again, so is then event of massive amounts of criminals being stricken with heart attacks over a great distance. We should attempt to determine the cause of this, and then look into if it is reversible. We can determine what to do about the rest of the investigation team from there."

Light cringed at the thought of his father seeing him like…. Like this. Of _anybody_ seeing him like this. He felt weird, disconcerted, and worst of all, he had to pee. He had been taught about the female anatomy, sure, but it was another thing entirely to have to learn how to use it himself. What made it worse (if this whole thing could get any worse), was that if he had any…. problems, he would have to ask Misa for help, and Misa was inhabiting the body of L. He shuddered internally at the image of L explaining (or worse demonstrating) to him the proper way to clasp a bra.

Talk about creepy.

Not that Light was ignorant about the subject. He'd had plenty of girlfriends before, and he had learned just how to please them. Light, himself, took more pleasure in manipulating them, influencing them, making them love him. It was always so easy, it almost made him sneer in disgust…

Light's thought was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal, coming from Misa. He turned to face her to see her staring down at her hand, surprise evident on 'her' new features. Rather, she was not looking at her entire hand, so much as the ring laying on its finger.

"Raito, Ryuuzaki, the rings! Look, look at them!"

Light realized what she was getting at as soon as he looked down at his. A thrill jolted its way up his spine.

The ring he was wearing was the same one he had put on last night, translucent inscribed with a symbol in deep crimson.

He was in Misa's body, therefore his ring should be pink.

Yet, here was his own ring, gleaming glassy and crimson in the light. Light looked over at L, whose auburn head was lowered, staring intently at his ring, fingers splayed wide. He examined it, pulled it off and twirled it around in his fingers. After a few seconds of this, his ring slowly began to lose its golden color, the metallic sheen draining away into neutral white.

L, observing this new development, held out his ring, and indicated for Light to exchange his for the one now resting in L's palm. Light slipped the gold band off of his now slender, well-manicured digit and handed it to L. The detective now wore Light's ring and Light similarly put on the ring L handed to him. Color slowly returned to the rings under the trio's watchful gaze. The band on L's finger turned bright gold and Light's to a familiar glassy translucence.

During the next half hour, the three experimented with the rings. They tried swapping rings in various ways, putting them on different fingers, slipping all three rings on one finger at once. It seemed that, no matter which rings were used or how many, the rings would change into the colors indicating the person whose mind inhabited the finger they rested on.

Though the three of them experimented with the rings as thoroughly as they could, their real concern was what they were going to do while in each others' bodies. Having no idea how long this would last, or if it would change, the trio agreed that it was best to make plans assuming that their 'displacement' was not going to reverse any time soon, and to react to any further surprises as they came.

But first things first, L removed the handcuff from the leg of the couch and attached it to his wrist, just where it belonged.

* * *

_(a)In Japanese, there are both feminine and masculine ways of speaking. Generally, girls are suppose to speak more politely and use longer and more intricate forms of verbs (the longer a word, the more formal it is) while boys use shorter forms of the same words. There are also male and female ways of referring to oneself._

Sorry it took so long to get out with this new chapter, but a few things interfered with my progress. Life and its difficulties, writers block and an insane craving for Harry Potter Fanfiction, to be specific. But now I am back, and I promise my (very few fans) that they will see the end of this story, one way or another!

You see, I have a policy that any fanfiction writer who abandons a story should, at the very least, write out a brief summary of the rest of the story, all the way to the end. There is nothing worse than reading a good fanfic and getting to the last update, only to realize that you'll never, ever know what would've happened. _Never_.

So, be gladdened to know that I won't just leave this story to go to pot. I may not update for months on end, but if I end this story, I'll _end_ it.

Remember, reviews are an author's inspiration!

* * *


	5. Chapter 4

Summary: A short trip outside of the investigation headquarters has several unforeseen side effects for Light, L, and Misa. Each is forced to learn and adapt to their new situations, whether they like it or not.

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me. If I owned Death Note I would be the happiest person on this beautiful little planet. But I'm not the happiest person on the planet, and therefore it is not mine.

Chapter 4

* * *

"The other problem we have to address," L began, "is whether we should inform the rest of the investigation team of our predicament, or if we should conceal it from them in hopes that the situation will right itself in time. I certainly know that my own abilities would easily allow me to impersonate Light, I know that Misa-chan is a very talented actress and I have faith that Light would also be able to pull it off. However, the question is if we can carry on such a long deception for an extended period of time, while at the same time maintaining the progress being made in the Kira investigation. At this point, our topmost priority is still to capture Kira, at any cost."

Light calmly interrupted L's lecture.

"I believe that we should each give demonstrations of our individual aptitudes at imitating one other. If any of us can find fault with the impersonations, we can take those into account when making our decision."

L nodded, "That is a very good idea, Raito-chan, we—"

"—Raito_-chan_?" Light interrupted. His tone was that of an innocent inquiry, but the muscles tightening around his eyes betrayed that he was bristling with anger inside.

"You're a girl at the moment, Raito-chan," L replied. "You should get used to the feminine honorific now so that it is easier to accept if you must impersonate Misa later. Now, to continue with what I was saying, I propose we use that door--" L indicted the door leading out to the hallway,

"--As a prop for adopting these personas. Each of us will exit through the door and close it, mentally prepare, and then enter as the person that they are supposed to be. The two remaining will then observe each others' performance, and examine it for flaws."

Light and Misa both nodded approval for the plan.

"Good, then I will go first. Please watch me closely."

L proceeded to leave through the door, his feet dragging slightly across the carpet in his usual apathetic slump, before closing it behind him. There was a long moment of silence, and then he entered again. The change, in body language, in stance, even in his face, was immediately noticeable.

L's back was straight, his posture as perfect as Light kept it normally. His face was void of emotion, but in a slightly more friendly fashion. It wasn't L's unnerving, zombie-like stare, but was the poised, collected elegance of a professional model. He walked forward with a grace that none would believe the slouched, shuffling detective could ever achieve. The way he carried himself, the way he walked and even breathed, radiated a confident power.

Light felt uneasy, sitting there watching him. It was like he was truly watching himself, seeing what he looked like to another's eyes. Light wasn't in the least self-conscious, but inside the privacy of his own mind, he admitted that it was rather disconcerting.

Meanwhile, L then turned to them and spoke at last. His tone was smooth and polite, as was his honeyed smile.

"Oh, Misa, Raito-san, good morning." L began, flashing them a dazzling smile, rows of perfect white teeth gleaming like ivory. Light had to suppress a shiver. He really was a perfect human specimen.

And so Light, Misa and L-as-Light shared a short conversation, in which L played his part to the point where Misa began to flirt with him, forgetting that the man in front of her wore only the skin of her boyfriend. Finally L departed again, the door closing shut with a soft 'click' behind him. He entered the room once again with his usual shuffling gait and bored appearance. Misa blushed, realizing that she had been flirting with Ryuuzaki all along.

Next, Light decided to have a go.

As the door closed in front of him, Light stood completely still, his eyes closed, his gaze turned inward. He let all that defined Light Yagami fall away to some hidden part of his mind; his pride, his intelligence, his competitive streak, all his traits and mannerisms were carefully packed away. He made sure that his own consciousness was safely out of the way, before concentrating next on creating who he must become.

Misa Amane, talented model and actress. Bubbly, energetic, touchy-feely. Potential intelligence undermined by single-minded devotion. He let all his memories, all his knowledge of her, seep into his being. Hugging, jumping, squealing, pouting Misa. He conjured her speech patterns, her quirks, shaping a persona like a potter at his wheel, the mass of material taking form as his thoughts spun it around and around, building it from the center on outwards. The persona blossomed and grew until it was finally whole.

And then he was ready.

* * *

Several long moments passed before the door opened again, and Light entered. Except, the bubbly, glowing girl who appeared from behind the door just radiated Misa. She had a bright, infectious smile, a youthful bounce to her step as she walked, and she moved her hands and feet in such a graceful, feminine, Misa-like way.. Her voice was perky and full of cheer, and she just seemed to drip cuteness.

The two onlookers were impressed. Who knew that Light could ever act this well like a girl?

"Wow, I never knew Raito could be such a good me." Whispered Misa, blushing. He must have been studying her a lot to be able to act like her that well!

"Hi guys! I'm sorry I took so long! Did you miss me?" Pseudo-Misa chirped, winking cutely and flipping her hair playfully over her shoulder. "I know I missed you, Raito!"

Pseudo-Misa ran up and gave L a big hug, tackling the nonplussed body of Light Yagami to the sofa. After proceeding to coo and squeal over "Raito" while snubbing "L" scornfully, Pseudo-Misa finally departed, winking over her shoulder and giggling at the two before shutting the door once again.

* * *

Light walked in again, all traces of bubbles or playfulness gone. His face was completely neutral, but if one knew him, his eyes were a little too narrow and his lips were a little bit turned down at the corners. He didn't look very happy.

Misa, completely oblivious, was clapping enthusiastically, her eyes alit with awe.

"Raito, that was amazing! You were just like me! It was like when I watch myself in a movie. You were really good!"

"I must agree with Misa-san. That was an impressive display of acting ability. I believe that you could easily fool everyone on the team with such acting talent." The last part was said casually, innocently, holding not a trace of accusation or subtle finger-pointing. None at all.

Light had to work to keep his eyebrow from twitching. He knew better.

"I may be able to do it for a short amount of time, Ryuuzaki, but I do not think I would be able to keep up such a façade for such a long period of time," Light deflected, "acting female is exhausting."

"Really, Raito-chan?" L cocked his head a fraction, "You seemed to be quite comfortable in the role."

Light shot him a withering glare, but otherwise coolly ignored his provocation.

"I also believe it would hamper the investigation if I was to pose as Misa, since I would be almost completely unable to work. I do not relish the thought of working in... this," he gestured down to Misa's body in distaste, "But I would rather work like this than not at all. "

"Nonetheless, Raito-chan," L replied, "we should observe Misa's capabilities before reaching our final decision on the matter. Misa, would you begin?"

Misa bounced up off the couch, full of energy.

"Okay! Misa-Misa will do her best! Wish me luck, Raito!" And she ducked out of the door. L and light waited patiently on the couch.

A few minutes later, she entered again. Her shoulders were hunched over, her hand stuffed in the denim pockets of her jeans. L's face betrayed no emotion, the gaze piercing and calculating. The Pseudo-L shuffled into the room, his bare toes gripping at the carpet. He made his way over to a chair, and sat down in his usual precarious position, crouching. He opened his mouth to speak…

…And promptly lost his balance, toppling over onto the floor, with a very uncharacteristic squeal of surprise, followed by an even more uncharacteristic pouty moan of disappointment.

"Ryuuzaki, why do you have to sit so strangely? It's hard to stay on the chair." Misa clambered up off the floor and dusted off her shirt, shooting a glare at the detective.

"Misa, if you are unable to mimic my mannerisms and personality in a convincing fashion, then we will have no choice but to inform the investigation team of the circumstances."

"But I was doing great up until the end! I could practice it until I have it right. I'm just not used to acting a boy, that's all. And you're not even a normal boy, either. I bet I could be a good Raito!" Misa groaned and crossed her arms in front of her chest, collapsing onto the couch. "why couldn't I have been in Raito's body instead?" She grumbled. The other, being used to her complaints, ignored them in lieu of discussing more pressing matters.

"There is also the matter of Misa having to direct the investigation if she is to impersonate you," Light interjected, looking at L, "She is hardly up-to-date with the investigation. She would need to know a lot of classified information, and I don't think we could give her that. It is also very hard to fake intelligence. As unhappy as I am with it, it is clear that we will have to inform the team."

Misa looked glumly at her toes, while L only nodded in agreement.

"In the time before the team arrives," L said, picking at the hem of his jeans as he spoke, "we should review last night's footage from the cameras. It may give us some clue as to when or how this all occurred." While he spoke, Watari entered, bringing in two top-of-the-line laptops and setting them on the table in front of L and a determined-looking Light. They both set to the task while Misa went down to her room to change "into something less hideous". A part of Light wondered,

After about half an hour, Misa wandered back into the room where L and Light were still searching the footage for clues. Unfortunately, there was no clear indication of anything abnormal occurring. The three sleeping forms never dramatically changed their positions, or went into convulsions, or glowed or anything. To the outside world, nothing was amiss.

And then Light hit a certain spot in the tape, taken early in the morning; only a short while, actually, before he himself had awoken. It had been recorded in the bedroom that he and L usually shared.

Light's stomach twisted, in shock all blood fled from his face, leaving it white. As the anger and humiliation set in the color returned again to his features, his face now flushing a furious red. He couldn't believe what he was seeing… It looked like… No! That was horrible, disgusting, unthinkable. He tried to remind himself that it was Misa, and NOT Ryuuzaki, that had…. That had...!!

…Kissed….

Light's eyes flickered dangerously as he glanced up over the laptop's thin screen. His eyes met with Misa's, and the girl-no-more shrunk back into her seat, looking perplexed and not a little afraid. Hearing Misa's small squeal of fright, L glanced up, at Misa and then at Light. Then he looked back down at his screen. One graceful eyebrow arching was the only reaction he showed. Light was already making moves to delete the footage of the scene. L, however, stopped him.

"Raito-chan, I realize why this footage may have upset you, but you must not delete anything that might help us discover the cause of this predicament."

Light calmed himself then, schooling his features and relaxing the muscles that had tensed with vexation. Now, it was Misa who was blushing, as well as glancing apologetically up at Light. Light ignored both her and L, and threw himself into his work once again.

…But no matter how much he focused, he could not get the horrible image of the gangly detective kissing his own sleeping form out of his mind. Even though it had been Misa in control of L's body, and she had kissed his body that L had been inhabiting at the time, from the outside it still looked like…

Light felt his stomach twist again in a combination of nausea and anger. It was just so wrong, so disgusting, and so confusing!

--And if L dared to show that footage to the investigation team, or worse, his father, then he would be very sorry indeed. Having lived with the detective for long enough, he already a lot about the detective and his habits, as well as the layout of their rooms; Light was very resourceful, and cunning, and any vengeance would be brutal.

Putting those thoughts aside for consideration later, Light dove again into his work. He would solve this puzzle. He would solve this if it took every ounce of his being!

* * *

The investigation team, as always, arrived mid-afternoon, its members slightly agitated after going through the building's advanced security screening. Belts and shoes were removed, bags were screened, eyes and fingerprints were scanned and passcodes were recited. Mogi and Aizawa had brought coffee and donuts on the way there, however, so the team's spirits were more easily sustained. Matsuda was humming a tune while the team rode the elevator up, and the rest of the men didn't even mind. It was too pleasant a morning to be annoyed at Matsuda, no matter how easy that would be. The elevator began to rise, floors and their numbers whirring past outside its the serene gleaming walls. Finally the right floor was reach, and with a small 'ding,' the door slid smoothly open. The team walked the familiar path to the main investigation room, ready to start anther day of Kira investigating.

Once they entered the investigation room however, the team's members stopped in their tracks and stared, confusion and shock evident on their features. Light, Ryuuzaki and Misa were all inside the room, as expected, but the scene that they made was... out of place.

Hunched over precariously in L's usual swivel chair was Light, looking unnaturally untidy in a worn white long-sleeve shirt and scruffy blue jeans, toes bare, munching on a piece of cake as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The only thing the same about him was his impeccable hair. He was doing exactly what L normally did at this time of the morning, pulling up a list of information for the rest of the team to sift through for clues or ideas.

The seat next to L, which Light normally occupied, now held the petite form of Amane Misa. Something was off about her too; her hair was tied back in one low, simple ponytail today, instead of cute pigtails, her blond locks spilling over back. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt today, with not a frill, gothic cross or lace edge in sight. Her normally cheerful and bubbly features held no expression now. She looked more like a serious business woman than a cute idol. Her posture, the set of her mouth, the gleam in her eye all commanded attention. Several members of the team noted that she was handcuffed to Light, but wasn't paying him any attention at all.

The strangest one of all was L, who was sitting on the couch looking bored, fidgety and unhappy. He was not sitting in his normal gargoyle-esque manner, but was seated in an almost normal fashion, legs crossed over the knee, toying with a strand of his hair. In his lap lay a magazine, one of the collection that was kept in the room to entertain Misa when she visited for longer than it took to kiss Light on the cheek between modeling photo shoots and filming commercials.

But more than simply L's body language was different. He was not wearing his normal ensemble, but was instead dressed in a long-sleeved striped gothic shirt (which Light had received from Misa on his last birthday, but had never worn), a single necklace with a cross pendant and a pair of fitted dark blue jeans. His hair, normally a black, messy crow's nest, was --for the first time _ever_ before seen-- combed, falling down straight sleek to his shoulders and parted neatly away from his face, his bangs held back with a beret fashioned like a little skull and crossbones. When it was not sticking out from his head at all manner of angles, L's hair was actually quite long and almost… girlish. The lack of curtaining strands made L's face stand out in its paleness even more sharp, his features for the first time clearly illuminated. He looked, for once, good. Not handsome, not perfect, but he looked almost like a normal human being, if an effeminate one.

And was he wearing…. Mascara?

The three inhabitants of the room finally noticed the arrival of the remainder of the investigators, L looking up cheerily and giving a bubbly "Good morning!" Misa and Light gave more curt greetings from their seats in front of the row of monitors. The investigators just stood, immobile, staring. The first person to speak was a rather boggled Soichiro.

"I-is this some sort of joke? What's up with you three?"

Light put down his now finished plate of cake, setting his fork down with a discernable clink, sending the sound of china against metal ringing through the silence of the room like a great bell.

Light's honey-smooth voice sounded lower, more monotone than normal, when it answered his father.

"I'm afraid this is no joke, Yagami-san," Soichiro started slightly at the distant and professional way his son addressed him,

"Something occurred to the three of us after our excursion yesterday evening. You see, when we awoke this morning, we were quite literally, not ourselves; I awoke as Light," he gestured to himself, "Light as Misa," He gestured to the girl beside him, who nodded and scowled down in distaste at her body, "and Misa awoke in my body, and has since been adjusting it to her presence. Speaking of which, we had an agreement of no makeup. Do you not remember?" He asked, turning to the pouting figure on the couch.

The blond chained to him scowled and cut in

"And WE had an agreement on limited sweets. I don't want to return to a diabetic, nutritionally deprived body. In comparison, a few cosmetics have hardly any negative effects on the body at all."

"But Raito-chan," The youth retorted, "I need my sweets in order to function at my highest mental capacity; my diet will not spoil your body in any way. I eat plenty of vitamins, and there is quite lot of healthy fruit in my cakes."

" But you have to get adequate sleep as well. If you give me those horrid bags under my eyes like yours—"

Soichiro coughed, interrupting the side conversation that had developed between the two.

"Ah yes, Father. What is it?" The blond turned now to face him, polite and responsive, acting more familiar with him than Misa would. She had even addressed him respectfully as 'father' in the same manner that Light had always done. Soichiro looked hard into the girl's eyes. His answer was hesitant.

"R-Raito? Is that… really you? "

Soichiro stared at the blond skeptically. His inner turmoil was evident in his face. If what Light—Ryuuzaki had just said was true, then his son… was in there. He looked deep into the girl's blue eyes, searching for any traces of his boy, his pride, his Light. She stared back at him, her gaze conveying complete seriousness, her eyes sparkling with a familiar intelligence. Misa's eyes had never looked like that, alert and dignified. All traces of the cheery, light-hearted model seemed to have evaporated like a soap bubble.

Soichiro looked over at the auburn haired youth sitting beside her, meeting an equally intense stare set firmly in a no-nonsense expression. Although the face was that of the boy he had raised since birth, had cherished and taught and imbued with his pride, the look it gave was not the look of a son at his father, but of one adult looking at another, with respect tempered with authority. He somehow looked older, more mature.

Finally, he looked at the raven-haired man sitting on the couch, who had returned to happily reading the magazine in his lap. Upon feeling Soichiro's gaze falling on his back, he turned up and met it, eyes wide, his features strangely innocent. The figure was lacking its usual aura of a hardened detective. Instead, the body language and mannerisms looked effeminate; cutely girlish in the way Misa had always been

After a long period of standing in wide-eyed disbelief, and then a flurry of questions, the investigation team finally entered the room and sat down in their usual places, faces still unsettled. However, they seemed resigned to believe this strange new development, at least for the time being. There was work to be done after all, and if this was a joke then it would be revealed in its own time. Things began to calm down as everyone settled back into their familiar routine.

Watari walked into the room, walking over to L's seat as silently as he ever did, handing the brunette seated there another piece of strawberry cheesecake and a fresh cup of tea. The blond girl beside him short him a withering glare as he picked up his fork and lifted a large hunk of the cloying confection to his lips.

It was going to be a long day for everyone.

* * *

_Huzzah, I got a new chapter out, and it didn't take me even a month! I thought this would be a nice back-to-school/end-of-summer present for you all. Thankfully, I had built upon a buffer of material, so I didn't have to write too much from scratch. I'm not entirely satisfied with the last portion of the chapter, but I was running out of time and energy. Things are going to be a bit busy for me for a while, so I hope this chapter can tide you over until next time. there will still be plenty more hilarious adjustments and reactions to come._

_Remember, reviews inspire an author to update faster!_


	6. Chapter 5

In Another's Shoes: Chapter 5

by Nubial Sheep

Summary: A short trip outside of the investigation headquarters has unforeseen consequences for Light, L, and Misa. When the three are forced to (quite literally) spend time in each other's shoes, will they adapt, will they grow, and most importantly; will things ever be the same?

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me.

Hello, my wonderful readers: I have updated again! Today I bear not only a new chapter, but good tidings as well! This November I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (abbreviated NaNoWriMo), during which you write a 50,000 word novel over the course of November. My participation is rather loose, though. I'm just using it as incentive to get back into a daily writing groove. I'm going to be working on new material for this story as well as several others I have planned, so progress will be made!

Another Announcement: I'm in the market for a Beta! I already edit and spellcheck my work, but it would be great to have someone to check for more general continuity or to give me plot ideas; nothing too big. If anybody is interested, give me a PM and we'll work something out.

I give my sincere thanks to htotheizzo's generous plug for this story from her own fic, "A Vicious Circle". It's a lovely tale involving L, kidnap, and lots of beautiful, gruesome torture. I recommend it to anybody who's reading this that isn't already a fan of hers. To show her my gratitude, I have dedicated the title of this chapter to her story. You'll understand why it fits once you read the chapter. (~_^) I love you all!

* * *

**Chapter 5: **

**A Vicious "Cycle"**

As Light drifted up out of unconsciousness, his first thought was _'Please let it be a dream, please let it be a dream, please let it be a dream…'_ His hands slowly reached up towards his chest, hope swelling up in his mind while dread dragged at its edges. As he lowered his hand towards the soft plaid fabric of his pajama top, his fingers felt, instead of firm pectoral muscles, the soft fleshy volume of breasts.

'_No no no nononononoNO!!! Damn it!" _

Light's eyes flew open to see the familiar interior of the bedroom he shared with L through a curtain of haphazard golden hair, mussed by sleep, and a wreath of too-long lashes.

"What an odd way to wake yourself up, Raito-chan. Are breasts really that sensitive?"

Light shot an icy glare over at L, but did not stoop so low as to rise to his bait. The detective was sitting on the opposite corner of the bed, mantaining his balance while crouching oddly and cradling a laptop with his knees. Light felt his stomach twist as he observed his own body, taking in the uncharacteristic qualities that L had brought to it. Brown hair unconditioned and uncombed had lost its smooth, impeccable lustre and instead poked out in all directions like a bird's nest. Back too hunched, clothing too wrinkled, even the set of the muscles in his face was _wrong_.

Light looked away got out of bed and moved to the wardrobe, opening it to find a variety of new clothes. The outfits were simple: shirts, sweaters, pants, jackets and essentials in Misa's sizes. They were just the right kind of unisex; masculine enough in the cut and color palette to allow Light his dignity, yet form fitting enough to keep from being "butch."

Light reached in and pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a sweater warm enough to ward off the chill of the morning. Reaching into the drawer where he normally kept his undergarments, he found that there were also some new additions there as well. Light's felt the heat rising in his cheeks at the sight of the bras. Though they were rather simple in shape and style, devoid of any frills, lace or bows, Light couldn't help but feel bile rise in his throat as he snatched one at random off the top. After he had gathered everything, he pulled L off his perch and headed for the bathroom to change (Misa had requested that Light change in private keep "that voyeur" from seeing her naked). once he was in, chain slipping under the door, Light tore out of his nightclothes and into his day wear with unmatched efficiancy, never once taking his eyes off the bumpy texture of the ceiling or turning to face the mirror. Misa was a pretty girl for sure, but he really wasn't ready to see her naked yet, if ever. Ew.

The remainder of the morning before the investigation team arrived would have been almost normal if they could ignore the fact that they were not themselves. Misa came up to eat breakfast with them, and the three ate, for the most part, in peaceful silence. In the silence, however, Light would sometimes slide irritated glances at L as he dropped sugar cube after sugar cube into his tea, while Misa would keep looking at light and cocking her head when she thought he wasn't looking, as if to get a loot at the back of his, that is to say her own head. The meal finished without incident, and they departed to the investigation headquarters while Watari cleared up their plates.

Everyone worked even more diligently than normal that afternoon, avoiding any conversation more than short questions and clipped requests to pass a document or a dropped pen. Nobody made eye contact with anyone else, instead gluing their eyes to their papers in a concentration that was far too strong to be real. All of them were completely avoiding any discussion of the events from the day before. Tension hung in the air between them all like a fishing line strung taut, but nobody was willing to break the silence and confront what was hooked at the end of it. At one time Matsuda tried to lighten the atmosphere with a quick joke aimed at Misa, but faltered when he saw the icy stare directed at him from the blond teenage idol, and realized that he was speaking to the wrong person. Face red with embarrassment, he buried his head in a report, ruffling the papers around loudly and pretending to read until he realized that it was upside down.

Light, too, was not working as he should, though he was much better at hiding his lack of progress than the others. However, he was slacking off not out of awkwardness or social discomfort, but because for the past half hour had been suffering from terrible, gut-twisting stomach cramps. He had never felt such a constant, pulsing ache before, as if his pelvic bone had been turned into a rubber band and then stretched and twisted in painful knots. Whenever he shifted in his seat the pain increased exponentially, but he was too stubborn to admit his condition to anyone. He sat still in his chair and just rode the out pain, desperately hoping that it would end. Just another moment, he though, and it'll wear off. It'll go away. Just wait another minute...

However, after yet another hour of waiting, the cramps had only grown in their strength. He could barely stand them anymore, and had begun to unconsciously hunch over in his seat, his heart rate rising and his skin growing sweaty with exertion. He wasn't even making an attempt at feigning diligence, having lost almost all conscious thought to the red haze of agony that clouded his vision and blurred his senses. His gut was clenching and unclenching, his bones were pulsing with fire, so much so that he couldn't keep an even face any longer.

"Is Ratio-chan not feeling well?"

Damn, L had noticed. Light knew that at this point it was useless to try to deny his condition; it was evident he was suffering from something. Maybe he could brush it off as something minor...

"It's nothing, Ryuuzaki."

"It doesn't look like nothing, Raito-chan. It looks like you are in pain."

Light kept his tone easy and light, though it was a strain to keep the pain from leaking in through the cracks. He rolled his eyes lightly, as if mocking Ryuuzaki for his paranoia.

"It's just a small stomach ache, Ryuuzaki. I think may coffee may have disagreed with me this morning. Don't make a big deal out of it, I can still work."

It was just after Light finished had the last sentence that an even greater pulse of hot red pain burst like a popped bubble in his stomach, hitting him so unexpectedly that Light gasped and clutched his stomach with its force. Ryuuzaki narrowed his eyes.

"It does not look like a minor stomach ache, Raito. It looks like some sort of cramp, and if it is painful enough to make even you react then it must have been going on for some time. I think you need to take a break."

Light gritted his teeth, though out of frustration or agony he couldn't say. L just smirked smugly, an expression that fit so perfectly, so naturally on Light's borrowed face that Light himself was momentarily distracted from his aching pelvis by the fleeting impression that he was looking into a mirror. L continued to speak, this time his mellow tones covering a mocking lilt.

"…It's not like Raito-chan has been working, anyways."

By now the whole team had looked up from their papers, tentatively, to watch the exchange. They all needed some sort of distraction, and fights between L and Light were always quite spectacular, and even Soichiro enjoyed watching them, his eyes holding a small glint of pride that his son could hold his own against L, a master of multiple martial arts, skilled in self defense and copeiera. He would of course, give his son a good scolding and a long lecture about non-violence afterwards, but the pride was always there.

Before the conversation could continue however, Misa let out a gasp and stood up from her spot on the floor, black-rimmed eyes wide, L's face contorted with her tearful apology.

"Oh no, Misa-Misa is so sorry, Raito! Misa should have remembered that it was going to start today! Misa is so sorry for not telling you!! She should have known that it was today because she had just gotten off the pill and..." After that, Misa's speech began to crumble into unintelligible babbling as her ears went red and her eyes began to tear up.

Now everyone was staring at her, some stares perplexed, and many disturbed. It was L who next spoke, slowly and clearly, as if confirming a suspicion.

"Misa-Chan, do you mean to say that Raito-Chan is going through his...?" Though L trailed his sentence off, Misa seemed to understand what he was referring to, and nodded, sniffling unhappily and sending sorrowful looks at Light.

"I'm so sorry that you have to go through it so soon, Raito! I should have told you that I get really bad cramps, and you could've taken some aspirin, and I'm sorry and--"

"Misa, calm down. What are you talking about?" Light tried to make his voice low and soothing, though Misa's girlish tones weren't quite so suited to his inherently masculine charm. Misa made a move to answer him, but L cut her off.

"Misa-chan, Raito-chan, I believe we should continue this discussion outside of the investigation room. We do not want to disrupt everyone's concentration more than we already have. Even if Raito-chan may not be feeling well, that doesn't mean that all of our progress must halt." Saying this he shot a glance filled with thinly veiled chastisement all around the room, immediately causing all of the older men returned to their work, though they were internally disappointed that they wouldn't get to witness a fight.

Misa bowed her head and began to move towards the door, silent but ears flaming red with a stew of embarrassment and shame. Light made a move to nod, but it came out as a grimace accompanied by a groan of pain as another wave of cramps overtook him. The three exited the room, and made their down a hallway on their right until they reach a bathroom. The only sound as they walked was the muffled thuds of their footsteps on the carpet and the clink of the chain as it moved, glinting as it swung and caught the light. Light now found it easier to distract himself from the pain erupting just under his stomach by concentrating on his breathing and the beat of their footsteps. When they arrived at the lavatory, L left Misa and Light by the sink while he rummaged around in a cabinet near the toilet. For a moment nobody spoke, but finally Light broke the silence.

"Ryuuzaki, Misa, what is going on? It's just a stomach cramp. We didn't all need to come down here just to fetch me some pain reliever."

L responded in his usual monotone without ever ceasing his search, periodically taking out bottles and jars and tubes of toothpaste, only to replace them moments later.

"Those are not ordinary cramps, Raito-chan, they are _menstrual_ cramps. Misa is scheduled to start her period soon, and therefore you are going to undergo it, since you are in her body. I thought it would be helpful to have her here to instruct you, since she has the most experience of the three of in this event, and she can give you advice about how to weather the symptoms. I thought we should come here for privacy; since even I, with my limited social skills, can tell that it is not the most proper subject to speak about in a work environment."

Light stared at him blankly for a long moment. Truthfully, he knew very little about the workings of the female body. He had heard, as all boys did, about how girls became emotionally turbulent and unnaturally aggressive at a certain time each month, and he had basic knowledge of both male and female anatomy from a scant few mandatory sex education classes, but beyond that his highly intelligent mind drew a complete blank. He didn't have any idea what happened during a girl's 'time of the month', and had never thought to investigate the subject. Despite his utter lack of knowledge, Light was not particularly willing to fully disclose the scope his ignorance to anyone, but especially not to L. So instead of requesting a more in-depth description of exactly what was going on, he didn't speak at all..

Then, of course L just had to ask the question that would expose him. It would have appeared to be a completely normal, innocent question if Light hadn't known L enough to know what emotion really lay behind it.

"Raito-kun, do you know what goes on during the female menstrual cycle?"

Light gritted his teeth together in annoyance, but did not answer. L finally straightened up, placing a bottle of aspirin, a small cardboard box covered with brightly colored labels and an equally colorful plastic box on the cream-colored surface of the countertop. He unscrewed the cap of the aspirin bottle, tipped two slender white pills into his hand, ran a glass of water from the tap and handed both to Light, who gulped down the water and the pills so fast that anyone with less self-control might have choked. L waited until Light was finished before he spoke again, and though his expression was quite neutral, his hidden smirk was evident in his voice.

"I will take Raito-kun's silence to be an affirmative. I would have thought, having a younger sister in the house, that Raito-kun would have been at least somewhat educated about the subject; it is really too bad that he is so uninformed."

L stacked up the smaller box and the bottle of aspirin on top of the larger container, handed them to Misa, and turned out of the room, leading the others further down the hallway and into a moderately large sitting room, furnished simply but comfortably, and in a style reminiscent of a hotel. Watari was already there, and seemed to have set up a laptop and a digital projector in the far corner of the room, with the image residing on a blank screen that had been pulled down from the ceiling. L nodded to Watari and thanked him, plopped down gargoyle-like on the couch and motioned for Light and Misa to take the seats next to him. As soon as everyone was sitting, the lights went off and Watari pulled up the first image in the slideshow. The first picture was an illustration of a woman's pelvis that showed the placement of the reproductive organs within it, which were note altogether dissimilar shape from the head, ears and trunk of an elephant. L began to narrate, indicating specific parts of the image on the wall with the aid of a small laser pointer.

"The menstrual cycle is a set of recurring, hormonally produced physiological changes that occur in females who have reached puberty. The length of a cycle varies between each female, but the average length of time between each period of menstruation is 28 days. During menstruation, the uterine lining, or endometrium, is shed.

In order, here, here, and here" L directed the small red dot produced by the laser pointer at different parts of the image, "are the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and the uterus. The ovaries," the red dot now circled around to indicate each in turn, "which we shall address first, are made to produce thousands of ova, commonly referred to as eggs, upon reaching puberty. This process is driven by hormones, called estrogen and progesterone, that are produced in the ovaries upon the arrival of puberty. These two hormones have many effects upon the female body, one of which is the production of ova.

Now, every month or so, the ovaries release an egg, in the process called ovulation. The egg comes down the fallopian tubes here, until it reaches the uterus. The uterus, to prepare, is coated along it edges with a thick, cushioned lining of blood and tissue, called the endometrium. If the ova has been fertilized, it will become stuck in the endometrium, and begin to grow. If, as often is the case, the egg has not been fertilized, the endometrium is shed in order to flush the useless egg out, going through the vagina in order to exit the body. It is this process which is called menstruation, and which usually takes a period of three to five days to complete. The amount of blood lost through this period is normally between ten to eighty milliliters, the average being thirty-five milliliters.

Common symptoms of menstruation include abdominal or uterine pain of varying degrees (sometimes referred to as dysmenorrhea), back pain, menorrhagia (heavy blood loss), physical bloating, puffiness, degrees of emotional fluctuation sometimes including an increase in irritation commonly associated with the term premenstrual syndrome (abbreviated PMS), and migraine headaches."

Finally, the presentation was finished. The lights came back on, the screen retracted, and Watari folded the laptop and put it away. Misa was a bit pink in the face, but had calmed down. Light's complexion was shifting through various shades or bright red, green and ghostly white, his eyes staring off into the distance. When he had finally regained enough composure, he began to ask questions.

"You mean girls have to go through this _every month_? _I _have to go through this every month? It sounds so uncomfortable and… messy. How do they deal with it? And how, exactly, do you know all of this, and why in god's name do you have a _slideshow_ of it?"

Despite Light's rising crescendo of outraged indignation beside him, L spoke just as monotonously

"As a detective, I need to be prepared for any possibility. It can be vital, in many situations, to have knowledge of the innate physiology of both male and female bodies. As for the show, Watari kindly set it up for me while we were getting our supplies. Now, as to your other questions…"

L motioned for Misa to pass him the parcels that they had previously acquired from the bathroom, and once he had them in his hands he took the first, and pulled the top open. Inside the box was a large amount of small, uniform objects that Light did not recognize which were all wrapped in identical pink plastic wrappers. L withdrew one deftly with his slender hand, holding it delicately with the bare tips of his thumb and forefinger, while his other hand began removing the object from its plastic wrapper. When he was finished With this done, L held out the object to Light, waiting until the blond hesitantly took it from him, face revealing equal parts morbid fascination and dread, and began to examine it.

The object was a long, thin cotton cushion of an approximately rectangular shape. As light examined the back, he saw a strip of thin paper-like plastic that covered two strips of some thin adhesive material. As Light analyzed the object, L spoke.

"This, Raito-chan, is a sanitary napkin, oftentimes referred to as a pad. It is made to be positioned along the inside of the underwear in order to absorb the excess menstrual flow. The adhesive on the back helps it stay in place. Throughout the course of the day, the sanitary napkin will become full, and will have to be replaced. Misa-chan, normally how many times a day do you have to replace them?"

Misa blushed bright red with surprise at being addressed so suddenly, but calmed down as she looked away for a moment, calculating, before she answered.

"F-four to six times a day, depending on things…"

"And how long does your period of menstruation normally last?"

"Eto… usually six to seven days."

"So we will make sure to have each bathroom stocked with a box of these for the next week. "

Light's ears were flaming bright red by now. "I can't wear this, Ryuuzaki; it's like a _diaper_!" he muttered harshly, flinging the offending napkin to the floor in front of him in disgust, crossing his arms over his chest, but uncrossing them as soon as he felt the way they squashed into his alien breasts.

"It's degrading enough having to wear women's… undergarments… but this is just -- urgh!!" Light was too enraged to even finish his sentence, instead ending with a growl of agitation.

"Raito-chan shouldn't throw things on the floor. Watari has a hard enough time cleaning everything up without you adding to his duties."

"Shut up! I don't want to do this!"

"You know, you do not have to use a pad if you do not want to, Raito-chan. There are other options available to you."

Light glared skeptically, at L, scowl still firmly set in place. L ignored him, instead leaning down to set the box of pads on the floor under him and picking up the smaller, yet unopened box. Pulling the top flaps of cardboard apart, L reached in and withdraw a small object wrapped in white paper. Inside the paper was a short, thin cylinder of cotton sheathed in thin white cardboard. L then turned to light, eyes wide and quite innocent.

"Now, shall I explain to Raito-chan the proper method of inserting a tampon?"

Misa blushed from beside them, fiddling with her gothic necklaces in an attempt to distract herself, while Light's whole face had gone a heated red. His voice, laced with fury, was dangerously low as he asked,

"What do you mean, '_insert?'_"

* * *

*five minutes and one altogether too detailed explanation later*

"I know Raito-chan must be going through his post-menstrual syndrome, but I really must insist that you calm down."

L's voice sounded a little odd, but then again, he did currently have a tampon stuffed up his left nostril. He ducked to avoid a small, feminine and surprisingly accurate hand as it lunged forward to make quick work of his second nostril. As he ducked down his hand came up to grab his wrist, but Light had anticipated this and retracted his limb.

"Calm? You _bastard!_ How can I be calm?!? I'm _bleeding_ from my _uterus_! I shouldn't even _have_ a uterus! Now get over here so I can show you just where you can '_insert'_ this thing!"

On the last word the blond crouched and lunged while simultaneously yanking on the chain of his handcuff, pulling L towards him by his wrist while aiming the small cotton implement at his face. L did not resist the pull, but instead sailed straight ahead, crashing into Light and causing them to both topple over in a heap onto the carpet in a tangle of chain and limbs.

Then, the two of them found themselves in quite an awkward position. L was lying flush on top of Light, who was flat on his back, both of their blood still pounding in their veigns from the exercise. L pushed himself up a bit and found himself staring down into Light's surprised eyes. Both of them let their gaze stretch out into one long moment as they their labored breaths began to slow, neither moving. They were so caught up in that moment that they didn't hear the hurried approach of footsteps until the door lurched open and the investigation team came bursting in.

"What's going on? We heard shouting. Is everything okay—"

Soichiro's sentence abruptly cut off he caught sight of the figure of his son looming over the flushed blond, and his jaw fell. The room went absolutely still, absolutely silent for a long moment, before Matsuda, blushing and stammering, voiced the question that everyone had been thinking.

"R-Raito? What are you d-doing… with… to…Misa-chan?"

Then the adolescent brunette turned his head and looked at them, and all of them remembered who he was for now, for there was no mistaking the perfectly unaffected, calculating mask of L and the unaffected, serene mask of Light Yagami. The entire crowd visibly relaxed, because they knew that there was no way that the great detective L would do anything of the sort.

And then Aizawa noticed the tampon sticking out of L's left nostril and began to chuckle heartily, unable to stop himself. The rest of the team glanced at him quizically at first, but after glancing back at L, they caught site of it too. Then the chuckles and snickers spread throughout the men, and soon gave way to outright laughter that bubbled and frothed with merriment, completely washing away the tense atmosphere of the room. Even after L and Light had untangled themselves and removed themselves from the floor, the laughter continued to spill through the air like warm sunlight, some of the team laughing so hard tears were leaking from their eyes. The mood was infectious; even L cracked a smile.

And for a few golden minutes, Light forgot about his previous raging stomach cramps, his uterus, and the menstrual nightmare that he would have to live through for the next week. A feeling that was not quite happy, but warm and light all the same seeped down into his lungs like a short of fresh air

It was gone all too soon.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So how did you like it? Was it funny, realistic, depressing, informative, stupid: what? Constructive criticism is always welcome! If I have made a mistake, I'd rather be informed about it than left ignorant (it's like when you discover you've had food on your face for half the day and none of your friends cared to mention it to you).

I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed watching Light suffer in this chapter, and that I will continue to enjoy it in the future. From the moment I started planning this story, I knew I'd have a chapter somewhere devoted to Light's first period. I had a lot of fun researching menstruation, and it was good experience translating the information into fitting L's way of speaking. I can totally see him sitting there, calmly explaining all the intimate details of the menstrual cycle or the proper use of tampons as if he was describing a serial murder case.

Was the whole "fighting and then tripping over onto each other" thing too cliché? It wasn't meant to be romantic or sexual or anything like that, but I needed to get the fight over with, and I chose it because it would create some wonderful misunderstandings if seen by a 3rd party.

On another note, because of possible future chapters I'm considering bumping up the rating of this story to Mature. It occurred to me that Misa may try to… explore her new body a bit. What say you, O Wondrous Readers? There'll be no pairings in this fic, mind, but some individual "private time" scenes are not outside the realm of possibility.

Hey, I just realized that I posted this on Halloween! Happy Birthday, L!! Everybody, sing "Happy Birthday" for him! If you're reading this at some later point, then sing "happy Belated Birthday" to him.

And remember: your reviews are what truly inspire me; they lift my mood when I'm down, and motivate me to write when I feel laziness setting in. Many thanks to all my reviewers so far: you're all awesome!


	7. Chapter 6

Summary: A short trip outside of the investigation headquarters has unforeseen consequences for Light, L, and Misa. When the three are forced to (quite literally) spend time in each other's shoes, will they adapt, will they grow, and most importantly; will things ever be the same?

Disclaimer: Death Note is the copyrighted property of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, not me.

* * *

In Another's Shoes Chapter 6

It was in much higher spirits that the Kira Investigation team returned to their work some time later, although Misa was not among them, having excused herself to her suite. Though all of the men's laughter had finally died away, their shared state of contentment had remained. It was with renewed vigor that they began to go about their tasks once again. The tension that had hung draped across the room earlier had dissolved into the air as if it had never been.

For everyone, that is, except for Light. He was sitting in his chair like always, working diligently, but every line in his body was bunched up and tensed, unconsciously revealing his discomfort. Every few minutes he would even squirm a bit in his seat. He had decided that the indignity of the daiper-feeling would be lesser than, if only slightly, that of the tampon, but he had not anticipated just how… _squishy_ it would feel once his flow really began. Whenever he moved his legs he would feel that wet sogginess shift beneath him, and even when he sat perfectly still he still imagined he could feel the thick, disgusting blood oozing slowly out of him. In order to distract himself from these uncomfortable thoughts he dove into his work with an intensity bordering on bloodlust.

'_I've got to find Kira.'_ he thought_. 'If it weren't for that bastard I wouldn't have been a suspect, I wouldn't have been taken here and I certainly wouldn't be a damned GIRL right now!! I'll catch that bastard and make him pay for the misery he's caused!'_

Light's eyes glinted with fire as he found his rhythm, fingers flying across his keyboard in a rising crescendo of hate, a blinding amount of anger and hate focused, concentrated like a laser towards this one goal.

Light's smile was positively vicious.

* * *

L was glad that Light was finally able to redirect his irritation towards a constructive purpose, because he was sure he would not have wanted that malicious, predatory grin directed at himself. No matter how much he loved to tease Light, he did _not_ have a death wish. It had been bad enough having a tampon stuffed up his nose, which had not only been uncomfortable but which had also left him sneezing for a good half-hour because of the persistent tickling of cotton bits stuck up his nostril. He was glad the first tampon Light had grabbed had been a "slim"; he internally shuddered at the thought of what it might have been like if Light's hand had found an "extra-absorbent" instead,

While being chased around the room by the venomous, post-menstrual teenager, L had begun to really notice the differences between his own body and Light's. He found the rush of adrenaline a bit stronger, probably due to adolescent hormones, and Light's body, though fast and strong enough to keep pace with L, didn't possess some of the dexterity and coordination that L had developed through Copaiera. It was much harder to pull off some of his specialty kicks than usual.

L was surprised most, however, by the fact that he didn't crave cheesecake after such vigorous exercise; he would usually feel the urge and call Watari to bring him a piece immediately, but today his craving had barely surfaced. He had called for a piece and devoured it anyways, but the feeling wasn't quite the same. It was like he didn't really _need_ it, he just wanted it. L surmised that his inordinate need of sugar had been partly due to physical cravings, which he had left, along with his extraordinary stamina, within his own body. He had also required a larger quantity of coffee to stay awake during the night.

There was a whole eighty-six percent chance that L's new body was going to inhibit his work, and he didn't like it one bit. He knew that the average adolescent needed an average of nine hours of sleep a night, meaning roughly sixty-three hours a week, in order to function properly from day to day, but L was loathe to spend so much time in an unproductive, unconscious state. Even Light, who had stamina above the norm for his age group, was still only able to skip so much regular sleep before he collapsed at his keyboard. L estimated that Light required, roughly, a minimum of five hours a night. This was still a long time to a man accustomed to approximately seven hours of sleep every month..

After letting all possible approaches to his new predicament turn over in his mind, L decided, grudgingly, that the best way to approach the situation would be to adjust himself to Light's adolescent sleep schedule, and then slowly work to wean his new body off of it; slowly enough that Light wouldn't notice the growing bags under his eyes, and go into a rage and beat L to death for ruining his beauty. Really, the boy was quite vain.

Hiding a sigh of resignation in the action of blowing on his steaming cup of coffee, L returned the small fraction of his consciousness that had been contemplating this issue back to the task at hand. Sleep could wait until nighttime, but Kira would not.

* * *

Several floors below the investigation team, Misa was standing in front of the full-length mirror in her walk-in closet, hands on hips, closely scrutinizing a reflection that was not her own. She had stripped down to a pair of boxers from the new wardrobe set that Watari had provided for her (they were a bit drafty, but surprisingly comfortable). She had been quite curious to see what L looked like underneath his baggy, tasteless clothes, and she was quite surprised to find that he was not altogether unattractive. His body was almost completely hairless, his skin as smooth, white and clammy as the underbelly of a fish. He didn't even have underarm hair.

Misa was a little grossed out by it (she usually preferred men with actual skin pigmentation) but she was also a little intrigued, in a morbid way. The lack of hair, and the pale, unblemished quality of his skin wasn't really feminine, but… it had potential. His figure, too, wasn't half bad. Although his neck was a bit too thick, his shoulders too broad and his ass completely nonexistent, his waist was slender enough (how _did_ he keep that up while eating so much cake??) and his arms and legs, though muscular, lacked the bulk and tone of most male arms. Their muscle was coiled and hidden under the skin, like in a dancer or a female athlete. They could pass.

And his face… well, she had plenty of cosmetics for that.

Misa grinned excitedly into the mirror, twirling around theatrically to face the racks of clothing and costumes that stretched out in front of her. Oh, how she loved a good makeover!

* * *

Misa opened the many drawers and compartments of her vanity, pulling out bottles and tubes, brushes and sponges and pencils with a practiced dexterity. Her mind was focused completely on her choices, calculating the exact shade of foundation she would need, the best method of lining her eyes, her mouth.

From her experience working as a model and an idol, Misa had learned a lot about the art and application of makeup. Although, of course, she had employed in her staff some of the best makeup artists, wardrobe specialists and hairdressers in the industry, she was still required to have proficiency in each area. After all, if she had an important photo shoot to attend and a member of her staff was late, she would have to be able to fix her own makeup, or coordinate her own outfit, and make the appointment with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Deadlines were deadlines, and there were no excuses in the merciless field of modeling, and certainly no second chances. Misa hadn't climbed her way to the top on a stairway of rainbows and fairy-sparkles, but of competition and competence. Misa secured Ryuuzaki's long bangs back with a series of hair clips, and began to work.

After testing the palest shade of foundation on the back of her hand and confirming it as a match, Misa began to apply it to her face with a soft sponge, evening out L's skin. Thankfully, it didn't need much in that area, since everything was mostly the same uniform, pasty white color.

Next, she took out several creams meant to create subtle, natural-looking shadows and highlights on the skin, and two clean wedge-shaped sponges for application. She began to line the shadow around her face, softening the edges of her forehead and giving her jaw the effect of looking like a soft curve, eliminating all angularity, making small lines of shadow and then blending it with her fingers. She proceeded to add subtle shadows under her cheekbones, her eyebrows, and along her nose. Then she applied a few dabs of highlighting cream to the bridge of her nose, her cheekbones, her chin, just under her eyebrows and her forehead, blending the edges of the highlighted areas with the shadows so you couldn't tell where one stopped and the other began.

The next step was the eyebrows. Thankfully, Ryuuzaki's were naturally thin, so she didn't have to do any plucking. She took out a black pencil and used it to add a subtle arching quality to each brow, extending the outside edges as well to complete the effect. Upon examining her progress, Misa was impressed; even without lipstick or eyeshadow, Ryuuzaki looked quite feminine.

After giving her work one final once-over, and giving herself a satisfied pat-on-the-back, Misa applied a translucent powder to her face, to preserve the initial layer of cosmetics, to prevent accidental smearing or smudging. Then, she began to work with the real makeup.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Misa further transformed L's face using the magic of high-quality false eyelashes, mascara, and the careful application of eyeliner that changed the dark circles under L's eyes from facial blemishes to beautifications. Layering several shades of dark eye shadow created a "smoky eyes" effect that contrasted well with L's skin. Now, his usual unblinking half-lidded stare would look intense rather than intimidating, coy rather than disconcerting. Using a large brush, Misa applied a light layer of blush to the areas of her cheeks, forehead and chin, to add a little color and health to otherwise sallow skin. For the final touch, Misa decided on a shade of lipstick that was such a dark red it bordered on black, which fit Misa's gothic tastes to a T. It had a nice shine, too.

After cleaning and putting away all of her makeup equipment, Misa tucked her hair under a close-fitting net head covering before scampering back into her closet, all the way to a special section in its innermost depths. This area contained rows of shelves filled with a gross quantity of plastic model heads, each of which sported a wig. There were wigs of all colors, lengths and styles, as well as a variety of hair extensions, all of different quality, color and material. Misa had a bit of a fascination with wigs and disguises (since she was little she had aspired to be a mistress of disguise, like in secret agent movies and detective films) which had helped her countless times in successfully avoiding fans, stalkers, journalists, paparazzi and other such unpleasant figures.

Misa surveyed her prized collection, mentally discarding choices left and right. None of her lighter-colored wigs would work with Ryuuzaki's pale skin tone, so she would have to limit herself to black hair. Ryuuzaki's face, even with feminizing makeup, was still a bit too long, a fact which a short wig would make all too apparent, so Misa dropped the idea of anything shorter than shoulder-length.

Misa finally decided on several likely candidates: a soft shoulder-length black wig with wavy hair and wispy bangs, one slightly longer that was comprised of delicate, perfect ringlets, a wig of sleek straight hair and straight-cut bangs that fell all the way to the waist, and a wig of thick, wavy, layered hair that would reach to mid-back, with messy bangs so low as to almost cover the eyes entirely. After carefully removing each wig from their place, she brought them over to the vanity and tried them on.

The first wig looked nice enough, but the hair was thin, and didn't have enough volume to add any fullness to the shape of Ryuuzaki's head. The second wig was gorgeous in a doll-lolita way, but Misa didn't like the way it made her forehead look triangular. The third contrasted beautifully against Ryuuzaki's pale skin and transformed the lingering masculinity of his features into an elegant and mysterious androgyny. Misa was leaning towards choosing it, but after she tried on the last wig she knew she had found the one. The wig's volume and shape did wonders for cropping the lengths of Ryuuzaki's face, and its messy quality mimicked Ryuuzaki's natural hair; but instead of looking like an ugly crow's nest like his usually did, its mussed locks looked wild and inviting, like someone who had just gotten out of bed. The layered effect also worked well in covering up or distracting from Ryuuzaki's thick neck, slight Adams apple and broad shoulders. The illusion of femininity was much more concrete.

Now it was time to choose clothing!

* * *

Author's Note:

_I know this chapter is short, but I've been really super busy over the last month with finals and crap like that. Please forgive me!_

_I'm sorry if I went into a bit too much detail with Misa's cross-dressing makeup and her wig choices, but gender-bending in any shape or form fascinates me (hence, one reason why I chose to write this fic) and I was reveling in the opportunity to use some of my knowledge on the subject. This chapter on a whole was a bit more contemplative. Don't worry, next chapter will hold much more hilarity and a lot more action. I'll try my hardest to get it out soon. Thankfully, Christmas break is coming up…_

_Thank you to all of you who review; you really inspire me and help to remind me to work on this story! You make my day!  
_


	8. Chapter 7

In Anothers Shoes

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I've taken so long to update, but I've been super busy what with the start of school again, and I haven't gotten much time for anything except studying and homework. I also had a major lapse in inspiration for this particular story of mine and I wasn't able to come up with any ideas for a long, long time. My muse just now came back, thank kami, so I've been able to write this much.

* * *

Chapter 7

The Kira investigation was progressing at its usual slow, steady pace as the afternoon bled into the evening. The tension in the room had lessened considerably since the early afternoon, as the team members had become assured that Light was only shooting glares that threatened a vicious and speedy disembowelment at L, and not everyone in the room. They steered clear of the teenage boy-turned-girl, though, just to be safe; Light with PMS was _not_ a force that anybody wanted to have directed their way, not unless they had a serious death wish, or a fully-stocked fallout shelter in which to hide until the danger had passed. At least, they thought, L would be perfectly capable at defending himself from teenage menstrual wrath.

…Probably.

So everything was going just about as smoothly as it could within the circumstances, and it was approaching the time when most of the investigators received a break for their evening meal, when the land phone rang, and L answered it. Now there was only one of two things that the land phone meant; either Watari or Misa was calling. Important contacts of L's would either be redirected to his cell phone or into the computer.

Light watched L delicately pick up the phone between his thumb and forefinger out of the corner of his eye, curiosity piqued. From the other end of the line, a high, feminine squeal could just be made out.

"Moshi-moshi," L spoke into the receiver. "Yes, Misa-chan? …Well, I suppose it's almost time for break anyways… What, is Misa-chan going to be naked?" At this, the voice at the other end of the line rose up into a scream of rage, which sounded something like "shut up you perverted voyeur!" After a few minutes of ranting, during which L held the phone a good distance away from his ear, Misa seemed to have calmed down enough to return to whatever topic they had been discussing.

"…Sorry, Misa chan. Okay, Misa-chan, we'll be down soon. Yes, Rai-chin* will come too… Yes, I'll tell him." Then L finally hung up the phone, and turned to Light.

"Misa-san requests our presence down in her room," L said, taking a quick pause to drain the last dregs of his oversweet coffee. "And she also asked for me to communicate to you that she loves you more than hugs, kisses, rainbows, soft cuddly teddy bears, cake, and the whole world." L took a sip of his coffee, thoughtful. "I think that it absurdly generous of her, for there is nothing in existence that is better than cake." Light rolled his eyes in response.

The two of them wrapped up with what they were doing, declared the mealtime break for the rest of the team, and made their way down to Misa's rooms via the elevator.

* * *

The two men were not quite sure what to expect upon entering of one effervescent blond-female-no-longer, but they certainly didn't expect for a beautiful stranger greet them at the door.

The girl looked to be in her late teens, or possibly early twenties. Her thick black hair fell in luxurious, stylish mess down to her ribcage, with a low fringe that just barely ghosted over her eyes. The face framed by her black locks was doll-white, long and slender and currently sported a happy little grin, which lit up her black eyes and shone off of her skin.

Physically, the girl had a tall, thin build and the body of an athlete, a quality which showed in the toned muscles of her long, smooth legs, which stretched out in sleek elegance from under a plaid, pleated miniskirt accented with black lace and silver chains in the popular punk Lolita style. A jacket designed in a similar style hugged her flat stomach and svelte waistline, with subtly puffed sleeves topping long, slender arms. The material of her jacket flared out over her hips ever so slightly, to meld smoothly with the lines of her skirt. Around her neck, a soft red plaid scarf was wrapped and tied in fashionable knot.

Overall, she was incredibly cute, and a total babe. She could easily be a model, with those legs.

…Which was all incomparably disturbing, since the two observers _knew_ that this pretty, vivacious girl was L—well, Misa technically, but in the appearance of L---in drag.

"Ne, Raichin, Ryuuzaki-san, how do I look?" The girl--Misa giggled, twirling herself about to show off the entire look. Her skirt fluttered out around her in a joyful fan, lifting up to expose even more pale skin, and causing her hair to bounce emphatically across her shoulders. For a long moment, all that the both of them could do was stare. Upon returning to her position facing them, Misa giggled in a coy fashion, and pushed down her skirt with one manicured hand.

"Iyaa~a, you two were trying to look at my panties, weren't you? You bad boys," The girl summoned up a blush and an expression of false modesty. Misa then looked up in Light's direction seductively through suspiciously thick, dark eyelashes. "Well, I don't mind if you look, Raito," at that she lowered her voice down to a flirtatious purr, "I'll show them to you anytime."

Light, upon realizing just what sort of equipment was currently hidden under that dangerously short skirt, turned white, and then flushed a heated wasabi green. This was all getting out of hand.

Light looked away from Misa (he just couldn't take that mental image any longer) to glance over at L, expecting to glimpse the same repulsion and horror in the other man's eyes that Light felt himself, maybe even more. After all, it was his body that was being desecrated in such a humiliating way.

But hidden under the expressionless mask of Light's face, L seemed to be… intrigued, maybe even a little humored. His gaze was focused intently on Misa, carding through every detail of her face, her wig, her clothing.

After a few moments of study, L pronounced "Misa-chan has done a very impressive job with this. If I did not know for certain that that was my body, I may not have recognized it as being mine, or even as being male. That is truly an excellent disguise."

Misa looked at L, a little surprised. "You… like it? I thought Ryuuzaki-san would have been a little bit more upset," Misa shot him a calculating look. "Does Ryuuzaki-san _like_ seeing himself in women's clothing?" Under her breath, she added, 'I always knew he was a pervert.'

L, completely unphazed by Misa's words, spoke again. "It has been required of me to be proficient in the art of disguise, though I have not had much opportunity to exercise those skills as of late." L rests on chin on his hand, "and you have used some interesting techniques…"

Light got the feeling that he would not like whatever L was going to say next.

"…I want you to demonstrate these techniques for me."

Misa cocked her head, "On who? I know I'm _so_ not wiping this off and redoing all this, not when I just got it so perfect."

"Why, on me, Misa-chan. Who else did you think I meant?"

Misa's eyes lit up then, and she gave an anticipatory squeal of delight.

Dread balled itself in the pit of Light's stomach. "Ryuuzaki, you don't mean…"

L turned his gaze to Light, and he can _see_ the smirk in them.

"Don't worry, Raito-chan, I'm sure Misa will make you into a very attractive woman."

* * *

Author's Note:

Beautification all around! Woo! If anybody has any suggestions for the fashion or style of female clothing that L-as-Light dresses up in, I'm open to ideas. His outfit could be cute, sexy, extravegant and costume-like, businesswoman serious... Anything. Just make sure it includes a skirt, not pants. Short shorts are a maybe. L wants to infuriate Light as much as possible.

I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I figured it'd be better to post a short chapter now than none at all for another few weeks. I'll try to get the next one started over the weekend, but I'm going to be busy making paper, so I'll do my best.

As a little treat and a sorry-for-taking-so-long-to-update present, I have created several images of L as a girl, with long hair and makeup and all that, just like from last chapter. To see all of them, you can either translate the link below into your address bar, or go to my profile and click on the working link there. My avatar is also one of these pictures of female L.

http : // s720 . photobucket . com/albums/ww209/nubial-sheep/FemaleL/

Check them out!

Also, while writing this chapter I found this weird coincidence in Misa's name: While I don't know the exact original kanji for Misa's name, some of the more likely translations are "faithful helper" and "beautiful helper". Misa is, after all, very beautiful, and is very helpful and loyal to Light.

Now, by some freak stroke of coincidence, the Japanese character "mi" spelled with different kanji also means "body", and another kanji for "sa" means "difference" or "variation", meaning that the name "Misa" also has the meaning "body difference" or "different body". How creepy is that?

Another strange coincidence: I share a birthday with one of the Yotsuba members. Thankfully it's not Higuchi (yuck).

I would now like to shamelessly plug my latest Death Note fic "Those Forgotten Dreams", a Oneshot of which I am very proud, which features dreams, angst, intricate of symbolism, and Light/Kira hotness. You should go read it!


	9. Message to Readers

**Message to all Readers:**

I'm dreadfully sorry to all of those who have enjoyed this fanfiction for the long hiatus that I have kept on my updates. Life has been very busy, and I have found little time for any creative writing, fanfiction or otherwise.

I am also unsure of whether I wish to continue this particular fanfiction. However, I want you to know that if I officially decide to discontinue it, I will write out a summary of everything that I had planned for the story. I think every author who discontinues a fic (without passing it on to someone else to revive) should have the courtesy to do as such.

Which brings me on to my final topic; if anyone is interested in taking over this fanfiction, PM me at any time, and we can discuss it.

A big thank you to all of those who have read my story so far,

~Nubial Sheep


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